‘It was a ravage!’: lived experiences of epidemic cholera in rural Haiti
BMJ Global Health·
- DOI
- 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001834
- PMID
- 31798994
- PMCID
- PMC6861088
- OpenAlex
- W2984701139
- Study type
- Cross-sectional study
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The findings indicate that public health education alone is insufficient to interrupt cholera transmission when structural poverty limits access to water, sanitation, and healthcare services.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The study explored lived experiences of epidemic cholera and responses to prevention messages among community members in rural Haiti during the 2011 outbreak.
Study design
Qualitative study using five focus groups with 55 community members in the Artibonite region of Haiti in 2011, with thematic coding and analysis of participant narratives.
Population and setting
Fifty-five community members from rural Artibonite region, Haiti, during the height of the cholera epidemic in 2011.
Main findings
Most participants had personal cholera experience and described the disease using militaristic language. Participants knew public health messages and reported some improvements in water treatment and handwashing, but open defecation practices remained unchanged. Constrained resources, not lack of knowledge, were cited as the primary barrier to consistent preventive practices, while poverty increased both risk and inability to adopt known prevention measures.
Public-health relevance
The findings indicate that public health education alone is insufficient to interrupt cholera transmission when structural poverty limits access to water, sanitation, and healthcare services.
Important limitations
This summary relies on the supplied single-article abstract and metadata. The original paper is required for decision-grade interpretation, including details on sampling strategy, data saturation, reflexivity, and transferability of qualitative findings beyond the Artibonite region during the 2011 outbreak period.
GIDS interpretation
This article is discoverable through cholera, Haiti, outbreak investigation, and transmission dynamics classifiers. It provides qualitative context on how structural barriers shape cholera risk and prevention behavior in resource-limited settings, complementing quantitative surveillance and intervention studies.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 10 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.