It is not possible to use two different languages with patients and with medical and health professionals

Leprosy Mailing List, April 30^th, 2009

 

Ref.:    It is not possible to use two different languages with patients and with medical and health professionals

From:  Poorman E., Boston , MA , USA

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Dear Salvatore,

I much appreciated the discussion of the social aspects of "elimination" for the sick. Please allow me to clarify.  Having spent significant time in the colonies attempting to understand the mind-set of newly diagnosed and those who have spent decades in these strange cities, I feel that I have a responsibility to represent their viewpoints.

 

As a (very) new member of the medical profession, I understand the terrible tendency to discount other ways of seeing illness besides our own--very important--medical outlook. However, I think that in taking into consideration the words and actions that will be used in attacking a public health problem, the effect on the patient's psyche should be of utmost concern.

It is not possible to use two different languages with patients and with medical and health professionals, as patients are often more well-informed than we about their disease and the actions taken to prevent it.  Moreover, as to the point of "curing" leprosy, from the perspective of the patient, this is clearly a chronic disease, and "cure" is a confusing term at best.

I think that moving towards control is a positive step for Brazil , though here I defer to Dr. Nogueira, Dr. Leide, and colleagues who have spent many more years on this issue. Cadernos Saude Publica published a journal at the end of last year, which I believe foreshadows this change with remarkable astuteness (http://www.iesc.ufrj.br/csc/indice_0802.htm; Dr. Leide and I both had articles in this issue) I make only one firm claim: the residents of the colonies were for many years the ONLY health professionals for Hansen's patients; they nursed their brothers in disease and watched many of their friends die.  They are truly as neglected as their disease in modern day Brazil . This is a disadvantage for them and for any goal of control, as they are not being utilized in accessible information sources, and their bitterness may even lead them to spread false information.  If it is at all possible to incorporate them in Brazil 's new path, the chances of success and atonement are far greater.

Sincerely,

Elisabeth Poorman