Valery Madsen Beau De Rochars, Jeannine Coreil, Martha Désir, Gladys Mayard, Marie Carmel Michel, Marie Denise Milord, Rand Carpenter, Thomas G Streit, Luccène Désir, Gregory S Noland, David G Addiss
Support groups can create environments that are conducive to healing and well-being, particularly for persons with stigmatizing chronic diseases. In 1998, the support group concept was adapted in Haiti for persons with disabling lymphedema caused by lymphatic filariasis (LF). The project was developed with the expectation that the support group model conceived in the developed world be interpreted and modified by persons affected with lymphedema in the Haitian setting. Initiated with modest financial support within a research initiative to eliminate LF, a total of 50 "Hope Clubs" were formed from 1998 to 2023 across seven communes (districts) located in 3 of Haiti's 10 regional Departments...
April 23, 2024: American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene