Mexican Immigrants' Perception of Tuberculosis Infection

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An estimated 2 billion people, or one third of the world's population are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.Tb.) And without proper treatment about 10% will develop active disease. Effective treatment of persons infected with M.Tb. Requires an understanding of the local (emic) beliefs, values, and norms of behavior. The goal of this research is to develop knowledge about how to frame culturally relevant community- based interventions that are congruent with the beliefs, values, and practices of Mexican immigrants of the U.S.-Mexican border. The purpose of this study is to discover the health culture, or explanatory model, of this group who has been diagnosed with M.Tb. Infection. Research aims include: a) analyze the Mexican immigrants' explanatory model of the cultural context of care in which preventive therapy of T.Tb. Infection occurs; b) describe self-care and the household production of health that occurs in the process of dealing with M.Tb. infection; c) discover those factors that are facilitators and barriers to adherence of preventive therapy for Mexican immigrants diagnosed with M.Tb. infection. The research method will be a critical, focused ethnography. This approach will study the perspectives of the immigrants and their families in the every day struggles within the sociocultural, political, and economic context of the U.S.-Mexico borderland.