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

Kansas State University, Manhattan KS

Investigators

Abstract

0110174 Paul 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.