Healthcare Workers and Lack of Information Sample Clauses

Healthcare Workers and Lack of Information. None of the operated patients identified healthcare workers or inaccurate information as potential barriers to surgery; however, several of the unoperated patients had not been operated specifically because of healthcare workers: a couple of patients had been told by surgical teams that their trichiasis was not yet ready for surgery: “You see, I was the only trichiasis patient who was not operated last year. I was examined by the intervention team but they told me that the trichiasis was not yet ripe” (Unoperated Woman, 35, Zinder Commune) Another had been told that there was a “list” of names for each surgical camp opportunity, and her name had not yet appeared on one of these lists. A couple of the unoperated women also stated that while they were aware of surgery in their area, they had not received the information on time or a referral to present. Several of the women had never been diagnosed or had been misdiagnosed. One unoperated patient stated: “I didn’t know that it was trichiasis in my eyes, that why I haven’t forced myself to seek out the surgery. And then, when I came, when I did go, they looked at me and told me there wasn’t any, so I continued my work” (Unoperated Woman, 25, Magaria). In this specific case, a woman with minor trichiasis, it is possible that at the time she presented, she may not have yet developed trichiasis. There was another patient who had been diagnosed but then doubted the diagnosis, as she had never had to undergo epilation, a practice presumed to indicate the presence of trichiasis.