IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v63y2006i10p2686-2697.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Self-care as a response to diarrhoea in rural Bangladesh: Empowered choice or enforced adoption?

Author

Listed:
  • Edgeworth, Ross
  • Collins, Andrew E.

Abstract

The literature is growing on the subject of coping strategies. However, with the exception of some work on the promotion of oral rehydration therapy (ORT), very few studies have examined coping strategies as a response to the ongoing diarrhoeal disease burden. This is particularly relevant in the case of self-care, previously documented as the most readily implemented treatment in the developing world and an increasingly common health behaviour in rural Bangladesh. This study analysed the socioeconomic factors that influence the adoption of self-care and the role that varied asset availability plays in relation to households choosing, or being forced to implement, a coping strategy. Qualitative methods were used to collect data from three villages in Nilphamari District, North West Bangladesh, in 2004. The findings produced a detailed picture of asset availability and its influence on household use of self-care treatment practices. The strong role of aspects of social capital in building human capital was highlighted, as well as how these aspects of social capital can assist household welfare through self-care in times of diarrhoeal disease. In contrast, households exhibiting weakened social and human capital were more excluded from information on appropriate self-care treatments. Development agencies and health care policies might therefore strengthen levels of household resilience to diarrhoeal disease more cost-effectively by focusing on activities that facilitate self-care through support of social networks and education channels.

Suggested Citation

  • Edgeworth, Ross & Collins, Andrew E., 2006. "Self-care as a response to diarrhoea in rural Bangladesh: Empowered choice or enforced adoption?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(10), pages 2686-2697, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:63:y:2006:i:10:p:2686-2697
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(06)00332-7
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leyva-Flores, Rene & Luz Kageyama, M. & Erviti-Erice, Joaquina, 2001. "How people respond to illness in Mexico: self-care or medical care?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 15-26, July.
    2. Barrett, Bruce, 1993. "Health care behavior on Nicaragua's Atlantic coast," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 355-368, August.
    3. Dean, Kathryn, 1989. "Conceptual, theoretical and methodological issues in self-care research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 117-123, January.
    4. Feldman, Shelley, 1983. "The use of private health care providers in rural Bangladesh: A response to Claquin," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 17(23), pages 1887-1896, January.
    5. Chima, Reginald Ikechukwu & Goodman, Catherine A. & Mills, Anne, 2003. "The economic impact of malaria in Africa: a critical review of the evidence," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 17-36, January.
    6. Rahaman, M.M. & Aziz, K.M. & Munshi, M.H. & Patwari, Y. & Rahman, M., 1982. "A diarrhea clinic in rural Bangladesh: influence of distance, age, and sex on attendance and diarrheal mortality," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 72(10), pages 1124-1128.
    7. Kamat, Vinay R. & Nichter, Mark, 1998. "Pharmacies, self-medication and pharmaceutical marketing in Bombay, India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 779-794, September.
    8. World Bank, 2003. "Private Sector Assessment for Health, Nutrition and Population in Bangladesh," World Bank Publications - Reports 14667, The World Bank Group.
    9. Sauerborn, R. & Nougtara, A. & Hien, M. & Diesfeld, H. J., 1996. "Seasonal variations of household costs of illness in Burkina Faso," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 281-290, August.
    10. Fwu‐Ranq Chang & Pravin K. Trivedi, 2003. "Economics of self‐medication: theory and evidence," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(9), pages 721-739, September.
    11. Matin, Imran & Hulme, David, 2003. "Programs for the Poorest: Learning from the IGVGD Program in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 647-665, March.
    12. Moser, Caroline O. N., 1998. "The asset vulnerability framework: Reassessing urban poverty reduction strategies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-19, January.
    13. Ayeni, Bola & Rushton, Gerard & McNulty, Michael L., 1987. "Improving the geographical accessibility of health care in rural areas: A Nigerian case study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 25(10), pages 1083-1094, January.
    14. Corbett, Jane, 1988. "Famine and household coping strategies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 16(9), pages 1099-1112, September.
    15. Sauerborn, R. & Adams, A. & Hien, M., 1996. "Household strategies to cope with the economic costs of illness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 291-301, August.
    16. Abosede, O. A., 1984. "Self-medication: An important aspect of primary health care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 699-703, January.
    17. Kickbusch, Ilona, 1989. "Self-care in health promotion," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 125-130, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Álvarez, Begoña & Vera-Hernández, Marcos, 2013. "Exploiting subjective information to understand impoverished children's use of health care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1194-1204.
    2. Bimal Paul & Munshi Rahman & Bankim Rakshit, 2011. "Post-Cyclone Sidr illness patterns in coastal Bangladesh: an empirical study," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 56(3), pages 841-852, March.
    3. Mawa, Christopher & Babweteera, Fred & Tumusiime, David Mwesigye, 2022. "Livelihood outcomes after two decades of co-managing a state forest in Uganda," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. Haque, Md Rabiul & Parr, Nick & Muhidin, Salut, 2019. "Parents' healthcare-seeking behavior for their children among the climate-related displaced population of rural Bangladesh," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 9-20.
    5. Parizeau, Kate, 2015. "When Assets are Vulnerabilities: An Assessment of Informal Recyclers’ Livelihood Strategies in Buenos Aires, Argentina," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 161-173.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shahaduz Zaman, 2007. "Health Domain of the Ultra Poor: An Exploration," Working Papers id:1002, eSocialSciences.
    2. Masha F. Somi & James R. G. Butler & Farshid Vahid & Joseph D. Njau & Salim Abdulla, 2009. "Household responses to health risks and shocks: A study from rural Tanzania raises some methodological issues," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(2), pages 200-211.
    3. Ahmed, Syed Masud & Petzold, Max & Kabir, Zarina Nahar & Tomson, Göran, 2006. "Targeted intervention for the ultra poor in rural Bangladesh: Does it make any difference in their health-seeking behaviour?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(11), pages 2899-2911, December.
    4. McIntyre, Diane & Thiede, Michael & Dahlgren, Göran & Whitehead, Margaret, 2006. "What are the economic consequences for households of illness and of paying for health care in low- and middle-income country contexts?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 858-865, February.
    5. Syed Masud Ahmed & AKM Masud Rana, 2010. "Customized Development Interventions for the Ultra Poor: Preliminary Change Assessments of Health and Health-seeking Behaviour (CFPR/TUP 2002 to 2004)," Working Papers id:2575, eSocialSciences.
    6. Laura Rossouw, 2015. "Poor Health Reporting: Do Poor South Africans Underestimate Their Health Needs?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-027, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Ellis, Frank & Bahiigwa, Godfrey, 2003. "Livelihoods and Rural Poverty Reduction in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 997-1013, June.
    8. Pagan, Jose A. & Ross, Sara & Yau, Jeffrey & Polsky, Daniel, 2006. "Self-medication and health insurance coverage in Mexico," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 170-177, January.
    9. Robyn, Paul Jacob & Bärnighausen, Till & Souares, Aurélia & Traoré, Adama & Bicaba, Brice & Sié, Ali & Sauerborn, Rainer, 2014. "Provider payment methods and health worker motivation in community-based health insurance: A mixed-methods study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 223-236.
    10. Su, Tin Tin & Sanon, Mamadou & Flessa, Steffen, 2007. "Assessment of indirect cost-of-illness in a subsistence farming society by using different valuation methods," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(2-3), pages 353-362, October.
    11. Eddy van Doorslaer & Owen O'Donnell & Ravindra P. Rannan-Eliya & Aparnaa Somanathan & Shiva Raj Adhikari & Charu C. Garg & Deni Harbianto & Alejandro N. Herrin & Mohammed Nazmul Huq & Shamsia Ibragimo, 2007. "Catastrophic payments for health care in Asia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(11), pages 1159-1184.
    12. Ellis, Frank & Mdoe, Ntengua, 2003. "Livelihoods and Rural Poverty Reduction in Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 1367-1384, August.
    13. Stefan Dercon, 2002. "Income Risk, Coping Strategies, and Safety Nets," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 17(2), pages 141-166, September.
    14. Eddy van Doorslaer, 2007. "Paying Out-of-Pocket for Health Care in Asia: Catastrophic and Poverty Impact," Working Papers id:823, eSocialSciences.
    15. Marcello Basili & Filippo Belloc, 2015. "How To Measure The Economic Impact Of Vector-Borne Diseases At Country Level," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 896-916, December.
    16. Okumu, Ibrahim Mike & Mugisha, Frederick, 2016. "Reaching the last 10 percent out of school children: the role of AIDS," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 4(2), July.
    17. Frank Ellis, 2000. "The Determinants of Rural Livelihood Diversification in Developing Countries," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 289-302, May.
    18. Pavel, Md Sadik & Chakrabarty, Sayan & Gow, Jeff, 2015. "Cost of illness for outpatients attending public and private hospitals in Bangladesh," MPRA Paper 74491, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 03 Sep 2016.
    19. Marcello Basili & Filippo Belloc, 2012. "How to Measure the Economic Impact of Vector-Borne Diseases at a Country Level: An Assessment," Department of Economics University of Siena 648, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    20. W. Adger & P. Kelly, 1999. "Social Vulnerability to Climate Change and the Architecture of Entitlements," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 253-266, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:63:y:2006:i:10:p:2686-2697. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.