"Collaborative Efforts for Better Health in Four Villages served by Heart to Honduras"
Fifty-four percent of Hondurans live in rural communities. Health indicators for all Hondurans are sub-optimal: the average life expectancy (67.6 yrs) is 10 years lower than in the US, and the under-5 mortality rate (41 per 1,000 births) is five times higher than in the US. Rural Hondurans experience even worse health as a result of poor health improvements, for instance less access to improved sanitation (54% have rural access vs 69% total) and to improved water sources (81% rural vs 87% total)1.
The average Honduran makes about $3 per day, yet total per capita expenditure on health in Honduras is $156 per year. With no health insurance, this out-of-pocket expense translates to an average of 52 days wages used to pay for healthcare. With only 83 doctors per 100,000, difficulty in paying for care is often matched by difficulty in getting to a clinic in the first place. Many illnesses in children result from or are exacerbated by nutritional deficiency. This is evidenced by the prevalence of under-height and under-weight markings in young children (29%, 17%)1.
Given the previously stated target population characteristics, the health of rural Hondurans is far from optimal. Heart to Honduras is among many international non-profit organizations striving to improve the health of rural Hondurans. While the care provided by short-term medical mission teams significantly improves the health of those treated, these teams and the villages they serve lack a system of identifying the specific health needs of each village.
The guiding research question for this project is: How can Heart to Honduras best collaborate with the villages it serves to identify and address prevalent illnesses in each village? The accompanying research objective is to develop an ongoing method to focus the collaboration of Heart to Honduras and the Honduran village members it serves toward identifying and addressing prevalent illnesses.