ABSTRACT
Objective: The purpose of this study is to obtain community perspectives in Arequipa, Peru to better understand and address their specific needs.
Methods: This is a secondary data analysis of a previous cross-sectional study conducted by in July 2015. Seventy-one (71) individuals answered questions pertaining to recent health impacts, fears for themselves and families, approaches for illness treatment, and desires for their community. The data were categorized and stratified to better determine the impacts on the community as a whole.
Results: Analyses for the 41 women and 30 men demonstrated that the majority were both impacted by and feared non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Also, 63% of people seek medical attention when becoming sick while nearly 30% utilize home-remedies and 15% rely on prayer. Furthermore, 40% reported a need for environmental improvements, while 36% stated healthcare improvements were a major need.
Conclusions: These results were consistent with previous studies on NCDs, which portrays the need for help to overcome this growing problem. Also, the majority of participants stated there is a need for more healthcare facilities, which is also consistent with previous reports that believed there is a shortage in access to healthcare. Additionally, a need to improve conditions for the rural were held true in this population. With these results, it can help to better guide organizations by knowing there is a need to address NCDs in communities alike. Finally, there is a need for more community perspective research studies as a shortage exists and limits understanding of specific community needs.
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