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A light touch intervention with a heavy lift – gender, space and risk in a global vaccination programme.
- Source :
- Global Public Health; Dec2022, Vol. 17 Issue 12, p4087-4100, 14p
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Frontline workers (FLWs) in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative go door-to-door delivering polio vaccine to children. They have played a pivotal role in eliminating wild polio from most countries on earth; at the same time, they face significant bodily risk. STRIPE, an international consortium, conducted a mixed-methods study exploring the knowledge and experiences of polio staff in seven countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Nigeria). We surveyed 826 polio FLWs and conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 of them. We used a body work framework to guide analysis. Polio workers perform a different kind of body work than many other FLWs. Delivering a few drops of oral vaccine takes a light touch, but gendered spaces can make the work physically dangerous. Polio's FLWs must bend or break gendered space norms as they move from house-to-house. Navigating male spaces carries risk for women, including lethal risk, particularly in conflict settings. Workers manoeuvre between skeptical community members and the demands of supervisors which generates emotional labour. Providing FLWs with more power to make operational decisions and providing them with robust teams and remuneration would improve the likelihood that they could act to improve their working conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- POLIO prevention
WORK environment
POLIOMYELITIS vaccines
CULTURE
OCCUPATIONAL roles
IMMUNIZATION
PROFESSIONS
WORK
DISEASE eradication
RESEARCH methodology
ATTITUDES of medical personnel
SOCIAL norms
WORLD health
MEDICAL personnel
INTERVIEWING
MEDICAL protocols
SEX distribution
INCOME
EXPERIENTIAL learning
PSYCHOSOCIAL factors
RESEARCH funding
INTERPERSONAL relations
INTERNATIONAL agencies
EMOTIONS
SPATIAL behavior
HEALTH promotion
POWER (Social sciences)
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17441692
- Volume :
- 17
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Global Public Health
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 161686519
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2022.2099930