Oral rehydration therapy--qualitative studies of balance between pragmatism and scientific rigour in managing diarrhoea.
In the experience of the author, oral rehydration therapy has proven effective at home, in the ambulatory and in the institutional care setting. A series of anecdotal reports on the successful use of oral rehydration on refugees, in famine and poverty, on medical students, prisoners, and the well-off people of western countries, is presented. The essential principles of oral rehydration are identified and we show how these can be adapted to a particular health care setting. A clear understanding of local attitudes and beliefs about diarrhoea is essential to professional health workers if they are to act as agents of change.
Ueli
B
B
Spezialarzt für Kinder und Jugendliche FMH, Einsiedeln, Switzerland.
D002648:Child; D003469:Culture; D003906:Developing Countries; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000628:therapy*; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D012036:Refugees