21-18
CAREFUL USE OF A REFERENCE BOOK
CAN EQUAL YEARS OF TRAINING
In a short training course, you cannot teach great amounts of detailed
information about a wide range of health problems. If you try to do this, students
will forget or confuse important points, and end up making many mistakes. On the
other hand, if health workers learn to manage only a few health problems, they
will have trouble winning their communities’ confidence. How, then, can health
workers be trained in 2 or 3 months to deal effectively with a range of local health
problems?
The answer, in part, is books. Training that focuses on using informative
books in problem-solving situations can prepare health workers to handle
a wide range of problems in a short time. We know village health workers who
often make better medical decisions than doctors who have attended the same
sick persons. This is mainly because the village workers have learned to take the
time to look things up. Here is an example:
Recently in Mexico, I (David) watched a village
health worker attend a 50-year-old man. The man
complained of sudden periods with ringing of the
ears, severe dizziness, and vomiting. A doctor in
the city had prescribed vitamin injections, antacids,
and a medicine to lower blood pressure. But these
medicines had not helped. However, following a
neighbor’s advice, the man had taken Dramamine
(an antihistamine for motion sickness) and found
temporary relief. But the problem kept returning.
The health worker found the man’s blood
pressure and other vital signs normal. He looked
in the INDEX of WTND under ‘Dizziness’, and
then turned to page 327, ‘Deafness with Ringing
of the Ears and Dizziness’. There he read about
Meniere’s disease, noting that antihistamines often
help and that the person should have no salt in his
food.
He asked the man if he used much salt.
“Yes, lots!” said the man. He asked what the
man had eaten before the dizzy spells began.
The man said that twice he had eaten suero
salado (very salty whey).
The health worker read him the section on
Meniere’s disease. “So why don’t you try eating
your food without salt? And don’t touch salty
foods like suero salado and pork cracklings.”
“Okay, I’ll try!” said the man.
Two weeks later, the man returned. “I’m
well!” he said joyously. “You cured me—and
the doctor couldn’t!”
“You cured yourself,” said the health
worker, “after we read about your problem
together.”
In this case, the health worker was able to help treat a problem he had never
heard of before-Meniere’s disease- because he had learned how to find and use
information in Where There Is No Doctor.
Two months’ training in use of the book...........................can often produce better results
than years of memorizing facts.
Learning like this............................................... helps prevent errors like this.