Overcoming Language and Cultural Barriers: A Graphical Communication Tool to Perform a Parasitological Screening in Two Vulnerable Populations From Argentina

Abstract

This is an exploratory study of the application of a support tool for the detection of asymptomatic subjects carrying enteric parasites in two vulnerable populations in Argentina: a shantytown in the city of Buenos Aires and a rural Wichí indigenous community in the province of Chaco. The ethnic and cultural diversity, high illiteracy rate, and language barriers called for the development of an auxiliary resource to explain stool sample collection procedures. In individual interviews with each family, the authors used two instructional guidance leaflets in comic strip format depicting the procedures. They evaluated the acceptance of the graphical communication tool on the basis of the number of retrieved samples. Percentages of respondent families were 72.2% and 66.7%, respectively. Definitive validation of these instruments would allow their use in community studies, community service learning experiences, and research on aboriginal communities that would otherwise be excluded from studies on health status.

Acknowledgments

The research project was supported by Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) (Grant: X702, Ubanex) and Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires (FCEN-UBA) (Grant: Exactas con la Sociedad).

Notes

*Fecal samples were collected according the directions depicted in the corresponding graphical communication tool.