Boubour, A, Mboma, S, Võ, T, Birbeck, GL, Seydel, KB, Mallewa, M, Chinguo, D, Gladstone, M 
ORCID: 0000-0002-2579-9301, Mohamed, S and Thakur, KT ORCID: 0000-0003-0050-0323
(2020)
“We can’t handle things we don’t know about”: perceived neurorehabilitation challenges for Malawian paediatric cerebral malaria survivors
BMC Pediatrics, 20 (1).
503-.
ISSN 1471-2431, 1471-2431
Abstract
Background: We sought to identify perceptions of neurorehabilitation challenges for paediatric cerebral malaria (CM) survivors post-hospital discharge at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre, Malawi. Methods: An exploratory approach was used to qualitatively investigate the perceived neurorehabilitation challenges for paediatric CM survivors. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). Eighteen data-gathering sessions were conducted with 38 total participants, including 3 FGDs with 23 primary caregivers, 11 IDIs with healthcare workers at QECH, and 4 IDIs with community-based rehabilitation workers (CRWs). Results: FGDs revealed that caregivers lack important knowledge about CM and fear recurrence of CM in their children. Post-CM children and families experience substantial stigma and sociocultural barriers to integrating into their community and accessing neurorehabilitative care. At a community-level, rehabilitation infrastructure, including trained staff, equipment, and programmes, is extremely limited. Rehabilitation services are inequitably accessible, and community-based rehabilitation remains largely unavailable. Conclusions: There is an urgent need to establish further training of rehabilitation personnel at all levels and to build accessible rehabilitation infrastructure in Malawi for post-CM patients. Additional work is required to expand this study across multiple regions for a holistic understanding of neurorehabilitation needs.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Neurorehabilitation, Paediatric, Cerebral malaria, Qualitative, Malawi |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Nov 2020 08:40 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Mar 2026 00:26 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12887-020-02405-1 |
| Open Access URL: | https://bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1... |
| Related Websites: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3106303 |
| Disclaimer: | The University of Liverpool is not responsible for content contained on other websites from links within repository metadata. Please contact us if you notice anything that appears incorrect or inappropriate. |
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