title: The Role of Gender in Chagas Disease Prevention and Control in Honduras: An Analysis of Communication and Collaboration Networks.
abstract: In Honduras, where Chagas disease is a serious health and environmental concern, prevention measures face the challenge of achieving widespread and long-term sustainable adoption by communities. The article integrates social network analysis and a gender-sensitive approach to understand the role of men and women in the implementation of a community-level intervention, based on the adoption of housing improvements to reduce the presence of the insect vector. A total of 108 people in the community of El Salitre were interviewed. Data were collected on socio-demographic characteristics, participation in project activities, communication and collaboration networks related to Chagas disease prevention, knowledge of Chagas disease, and adoption of housing improvements techniques. Communication mostly occurred between the same gender individuals and was associated with knowledge of Chagas disease. Socioeconomic status, Chagas disease knowledge, and collaboration with men were associated with women adopting housing improvements. For men, however, participation in project activities, formal education, and collaboration with women were associated with adoption. These findings suggest that men and women were driven by distinct concerns, interests, and motivations when adopting new Chagas disease prevention strategies. Participatory community interventions that seek to generate health knowledge and foster collaborations to reduce health risk should address gender differences.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Universidade de Brasília, Asa Norte, Brasília, 70910-900, DF, Brazil.
authors.forename: Diana Rocío Rodríguez
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Triana
authors.affiliation: Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Universidade de Brasília, Asa Norte, Brasília, 70910-900, DF, Brazil. mertens.br@gmail.com.|Community of Practice in Ecosystem Approaches to Health in Latin America and the Caribbean (CoPEH-LAC), Brasília, Brazil. mertens.br@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Vigilancia de la Salud, Hospital Escuela Universitario, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
authors.forename: Concepción Valeriano
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Zúniga
authors.affiliation: Ecohealth Field Building Leadership in Prevention and Control of Vector Borne Diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of Brasilia, Brasília, DF, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eduardo Yoshio
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de entomologia aplicada y Parasitología, Universidad de San Carlos, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala, Guatemala.
authors.forename: Maria Carlota
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Monroy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006721:Honduras; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Chagas disease; diffusion of health innovation; ecohealth; gender; health prevention; social network analysis