Qualitative Research in Action: Understanding Experiences of Skin NTDs in Liberia

This content was originally posted by the London Applied & Spatial Epidemiology Research Group (LASER).

Improving program implementation to achieve disease control goals is a multidisciplinary endeavor. Understanding the gap between the availability of evidence-based interventions for disease control and their actual implementation in a real setting warrants a pragmatic approach to scientific inquiry that brings together a variety of disciplines, including statistics, epidemiology, systems engineering, and social sciences. Integrating these approaches to plan, monitor and evaluate programs can improve program reach, treatment uptake, and the effectiveness of their delivery.

Recently, our research group has incorporated qualitative methods in its approaches to study the integrated control of skin neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Integrated programs, as opposed to disease-specific control programs, are an emerging paradigm for the control of skin NTDs since they may improve effectiveness of resource allocation for case finding and management activities. Several arguments support program integration beyond managerial or budgetary reasons, including similar disease presentations, co-endemicity, and shared need for case management strategies including long term chemotherapy, daily wound care, and physical rehabilitation. While international partners and academics alike have recommended integrated programs for morbidity management, there are few reports on how people affected by these diseases experience being brought together in natural settings.

At the border between Liberia and Guinea, a rehabilitation centre has recently integrated care for Buruli ulcer (BU) with leprosy care activities. In 2018, as part of our work with Accelerating Integrated Management (AIM) and the Ministry of Health in Liberia, our research group conducted a qualitative study in this facility to understand experiences of integrated care for these two diseases.

Read more of this article from our partner the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) about our collaboration in Liberia.