Transcultural nursing: bridging indigenous and scientific knowledge on dengue fever Enfermería transcultural: puente entre los conocimientos indígenas y científicos sobre dengue

Abstract

Introduction: dengue is a viral disease documented by biomedical and epidemiological approaches, which institute the practice of nursing. However, a few decades ago the need to build bridges between scientific knowledge of nursing and indigenous knowledge was raised to promote the use of new alternatives for health care. Objetive: Exploring the knowledge of an indigenous community of Momil, Colombia, about dengue. Materials and methods: qualitative exploratory study with a micro ethnographic approach, developed between October 2020 and March 2021, with 20 members of an indigenous community of Momil. The participants were selected for convenience and it was applied a semi-structured interview to them until reaching the level of theoretical saturation, these data were organized and categorized under Bardin's content analysis technique, and were used Leininger's postulates for the analysis. Results: The participants have knowledge attributed to the universal perspective of care about the breeding sites, symptoms and perception of the risk of dying from dengue; However, they presented deficiencies related to the mode of transmission and ecology of the Aedes aegypti vector. Likewise, the perspective of diverse care is recorded in the use of medicinal plants such as matarratón, Nin, basil and oregano for vector control and dengue symptoms; and especially, the vision of offering family care in the early stages of the disease. Conclusion: Transcultural nursing is the bridge between the recognition of this type of knowledge and scientific knowledge, however, the government must attend to the indigenous needs that may be the cause of illnesses.

Objetive: Exploring the knowledge of an indigenous community of Momil, Colombia, about dengue.

Materials and methods: qualitative exploratory study with a micro ethnographic approach, developed between October 2020 and March 2021, with 20 members of an indigenous community of Momil. The participants were selected for convenience and it was applied a semi-structured interview to them until reaching the level of theoretical saturation, these data were organized and categorized under Bardin's content analysis technique, and were used Leininger's postulates for the analysis.

Results: The participants have knowledge about mosquito breeding sites, symptoms, and are able to perceive the risk of dying from dengue; however, they do not know very well about the mode of transmission and the ecology of the vector that transmits the disease, and their living conditions are also poor.

Conclusion: Transcultural nursing is the bridge between the recognition of this type of knowledge and scientific knowledge, however, the government must attend to the indigenous needs that may be the cause of illnesses.