US-Bangladesh Cooperative Research: Health-Seeking Behavior of Arsenic Patients in Rural Bangladesh

项目说明：本奖项旨在支持堪萨斯州曼哈顿市堪萨斯州立大学地理系的Bimal K. Paul教授和孟加拉国达卡大学地理与环境系的Shahanaz Huq-Hussain教授的合作项目。这两家公司计划解决由受污染的管井水造成的砷中毒问题，以及孟加拉国村民应对中毒事件的方式和寻求卫生服务的方式。该研究旨在提供有关砷患者如何感知自己的疾病，他们在医疗保健利用方面的反应，以及决定他们寻求健康行为的因素的信息。这些信息旨在改善治疗依从性，并为孟加拉国未来及时解决砷问题的行动计划提供有价值的见解。范围：在这个项目中，合作者计划结合他们在分析和实地研究方面的专业知识，包括实地调查和访谈，参与观察和焦点小组讨论，为本研究收集主要数据。他们将从孟加拉国聘请合格的研究生进行实地面试。堪萨斯州立大学的一名研究生将与Paul博士一起使用定性和定量方法分析现场数据。研究结果将尽早传播，以帮助决策者和其他参与处理孟加拉国砷问题的人士。本项目由国际项目部和行为与认知科学部支持。

0110174Paul Description: This award is for support of a cooperative project by Professor Bimal K. Paul, Department of Geography, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas and Professor Shahanaz Huq-Hussain, Department of Geography and Environment, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The two plan to address the problem of arsenic poisoning due to contaminated tubewell water and the way villagers in Bangladesh respond to the incidence of poisoning and how they seek health services. The research is to provide information about how arsenic patients perceive their illness, how they respond in terms of health care utilization, and what determines their health-seeking behavior. The information is intended to improve treatment compliance and offer valuable insights for future action plans to combat the arsenic problem in Bangladesh in a timely manner.Scope: In this project the collaborators plan to combine their expertise in analytical and field studies, including field surveys and interviews, participation observation, and focus group discussions to collect primary data for this research. They will employ qualified graduate students from Bangladesh to conduct the field interviews. One graduate student from Kansas State University will work with Dr. Paul using qualitative and quantitative approaches to analyze field data. The results will be disseminated as early as possible to help policy makers and others engaged in dealing with the arsenic problem in Bangladesh. This project is supported by the Division of International Programs and the Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences.