A community based rehabilitation service and food related problems of parents/caregivers of children with disabilities

Community based rehabilitation is a concept first documented by WHO in 1979 which covers all disabilities and all age groups. It places the responsibility for service delivery on the family and is administered by a health infrastructure. In other words it is a service which includes older persons as well as children with all types of disability, provided in the community by the community. The 3D Projects Limited is the first fully established community based rehabilitation programme in Jamaica which has been in operation since 1980. The programme is unique in that it utilizes local resources within the community, and low cost methods in meeting the needs of the disabled in the community. The study aimed to determine how a comunity based rehabilitation service is meeting the nutritional needs of parents/caregivers of children with cereberal palsy. All parents/caregivers of children with cerebral palsy enrolled in the 3D Projects programme and the community rehabilitation workers within the four urban areas in the parish of St. Catherine were included in the study. Data were collected by focus group discussions and self-administered questionaires in three of the 3D Projects Limited facilities in the parish of St. Catherine. The sample consisted of 55 participants of which 40 were parents/caregivers (1 male and 39 females), and 15 community rehabilitation workers (1 male and 14 females) participated in the study. Parents/caregivers ranged from 18-60 years. Data were coded and analyzed manually, as well as in Epi Info Version 5, a statistical package for analysis of epidemiological data. Mean nutrition knowledge scores were slightly higher for CRWs than parents/caregivers. Using the correlation coefficient there was no correlation between mean nutrition knowledge score and age for both groups. However, when the t-test was used to compare mean nutrition knowledge score and gender, education and occupation for both groups no significant difference were observed. (AU)

Some aspects of erythrocyte Glucose-6-Phosphate dehydrogenose deficiency in Trinidad

The glucose-6-phoshate dehydrogenose (G6PD) activity of erythrocyte samples in Trinidad was investigated, using the Motulsky cresyl blue decolourization test. Of 91 specimens taken from normal negroes, 12.1 percent showed absent enzyme activity and of 71 specimens from East Indians, 7 percent showed the same deficiency. As was to be expected (G6PD) deficiency being inherited as a sex linked character) in both groups there was a preponderance of males having the enzyme defected. Three out of thirteen (23.1 percent) of children with severe cerebral palsy and five out of twenty-seven (18.5 percent) of mentally defective children were found to be G6PD deficient as compared with 12.1 percent of normal controls. The role of virus infection in precipitating hemolytic episodes in people with G6PD deficiency was investigated. G6PD deficient and normal erythrocytes were incubated for 60 minutes with a standard dose (approx. 3,000 PFU) of VEE virus and were then stained for Heinz bodies. Whereas Heinz body counts of 0.5 percent or less were found in samples of normal erythrocytes, levels of 1.5 percent or more were found in erythrocytes with G6PD deficiency. Erythrocyte G6PD deficiency is then shown to be present in Trinidad (more frequently in the negro population than in East Indian); the percentage of negroes with this enzyme deficiency is close to that reported from the U.S.A. It is suggested that this enzyme deficiency may play a part in the aetiology of cerebral palsy and that virus infections may be concerned in the precipitation of hemolytic episodes (AU)