User:Kristiedelvalle/Clinic

Mobile Clinics
Before foreign aid organizations or the state government became involved in healthcare, Costa Rica's people managed their own health maintenance and protection. Before biomedicine was even introduced, people relied on various socio-cultural adaptations and remedies to prevent illnesses, such as personal hygiene and settlement patterns. When new settlements that sprang up along the coast became "artificial" communities, and due to lack of traditional home healing practices here, alternative methods had to be implemented in these communities for the protection and prevention of diseases. Providing health services through mobile clinics provides accessible healthcare services to these remote areas that have yet to make their way in the politicized space.

A study done in rural Namibia revealed the health changes of orphans, vulnerable children and non-vulnerable children (OVC) visiting a mobile clinic where health facilities are far from the remote villages. Over 6 months, information on immunization status, diagnosis of anemia, skin and intestinal disorders, nutrition, dental disorders was collected and showed that visits to mobile clinics improved the overall health of children that visited regularly. It concluded that specified "planning of these programs in areas with similarly identified barriers may help correct the health disparities among Namibian OVC and could be a first step in improving child morbidity and mortality in difficult-to-reach rural areas."

Food supplementation in the context of routine mobile clinic visits also shows to have improved the nutritional status of children, and it needs further exploration as a way to reduce childhood malnutrition in resource-scarce areas. A cross-sectional study focussed on comparing acute and chronic undernutrition rates prior to and after a food-supplementation program as an adjunct to routine health care for children of migrant workers residing in rural communities in the Dominican Republic. Rates of chronic undernutrition decreased from 33% to 18% after the initiation of the food-supplementation program and shows that the community members attending the mobile clinics are not just passively receiving the information but are incorporating it and helping keep their children nourished.