141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

279930
An assessment of perceived health needs in a haitian run internally-displaced persons camp in carrefour, port-au-prince, Haiti

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 : 11:10 AM - 11:30 AM

Heather Drummond, MPH , Division of Community Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Chicago, IL
Ashley Dyer, MPH , Center for Healthcare Studies, Northwestern Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Chicago, IL
Alyson Lofthouse, MUPP , University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Chicago, IL
Maria Pyra, MPH , Hektoen Institute, LLC, Chicago, IL
Bhakti Hansoti, MD , Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Janet Lin, MD, MPH , University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine, Chicago, IL
Purpose: Assess perceived health needs compared to actual health problems seen in a Haitian internally-displaced persons (IDP) camp one-year post-earthquake. Data Used: Household survey of IDP camp residents, medical records from the camp clinic. Methods: Household surveys (n=144) were administered orally utilizing systematic random sampling of camp residents within eleven camp sections. Residents were queried about current health status, health behaviors, and healthcare access. Patient-medical records (n=1627) were collected from the camp clinic over the same six-day-period of the survey. Results: Mean household size is five people. The majority is female-headed (64.6%) and has >1 child under age 5 (58.3%). Eighteen-percent of households have at least one pregnant woman; eight-percent have >1 person over age 65. Thirty–six percent of households sought healthcare in the last month, with one-third utilizing the camp clinic (33%). Most children received vaccinations (91.3%). Of nineteen household-identified health concerns, the most prevalent are headaches (16.8%) and stomach/acid-reflux (12.8%). Eight households mentioned hypertension and diabetes (3.6% and 0.5%, respectively). Medications most used by households are for fever (13.6%), malaria and infection (both 11.4%). The most prevalent illnesses seen in clinic are obstetrical/gynecological (20.3%), infectious (20%), dermatological (12.9%), chronic diseases (12.3%) and gastrointestinal (12.27%). Recommendations: IDP camp composition can provide vital information about perceived community health needs and actual needs of patients accessing care. While household medication use and illnesses seen appear congruent, differences exist that warrant further study. Understanding health needs and health literacy levels is important to effectively prevent and treat illness.

Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Clinical medicine applied in public health
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe methods to assess the perceived and actual health needs of an internally displaces persons camp. Identify health concerns of residents in an IDP camp and how it compares to actual medical illnesses seen. Formulate possible explanations for differences between community health concerns and illness prevalence.

Keywords: Community Health Assessment, Disasters

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I participated in the planning, research and analysis of this project conducted in Carrefour, Haiti.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.