Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena

Abstract

The aim of the thesis is to investigate, among immigrants from Central Africa, their level of knowledge of the malaria problem and the behaviors they adopt in managing trips to their countries of origin, and if there be need, to reaffirm the importance of healthcare workers, nurses in particular, in the prevention of malaria among African immigrants in Italy.
A questionnaire composed of two parts was elaborated for the purpose: one part was dedicated to the acquisition of personal data and the second part consists of 12 questions with single and multiple answers.
A hundred and sixty three immigrants participated in the survey, three of these were excluded because they are not aware of this sickness. Out of the hundred and ten immigrants who have sought information on precautions to prevent malaria, compared to fifty who did not, 85.5% (vs. 22%) took antimalarial drugs, 70.9% (vs. 60%) took precautions on how to avoid mosquito bites and 88.2% (vs. 66%) would go to the doctor or to a medical center if they had fever.
These data show how important the information/knowledge of  the risk of malaria is, in order that immigrants adopt appropriate ways of managing the health risks associated with travels to their countries of origin.
Being people who may have different personal, cultural and social conditions, this makes more difficult the work of the nurse who should not only be limited to giving information but to stop and ask if the methods of communication with these people are really effective.
It becomes necessary the implementation of cultural mediators who can facilitate the interaction between immigrants and the healthcare workers, and help in understanding the messages/contents that the worker wants to transmit.
Keywords: knowledge, prevention, malaria, African immigrants, Italy.