Improving infectious TB education for foreign-born patients and family members

Abstract

Objective: In low tuberculosis (TB) incidence countries, linguistic and cultural dissonance between families experiencing infectious TB and TB health care providers is a barrier to effective communication and successful treatment. The purpose of this research was to explore infectious TB education and counselling from the perspective of patients and family members who are foreign-born. Design/Setting: One component of a multiphase, qualitative case study conducted in Calgary, a large city in western Canada. Method: Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, chart review and field notes and analysed thematically. Eight families were represented in the 6 patient and 13 family member participants who had recently experienced infectious TB. Results: Three themes were generated from the data: ‘learning about TB from many sources’, ‘reassurance and connection’ and ‘missing information’. Participants described learning about TB in different ways, feeling reassured once they knew more and sharing information with others. Overall, participants expressed satisfaction with education and counselling received. However, there were indications that communication problems had occurred. Participants asked questions during the interview, described areas of lingering confusion and shared TB-related behaviours incongruent with medical understanding. Knowledge gaps often increased isolation. Conclusion: Gaps in infectious TB education and counselling have negative impacts on patient and family member well-being. Education and counselling can be improved using multiple modes of communication, proactively addressing common misperceptions and reducing barriers to patient participation. Improvements could empower families to better manage their own experience and share accurate TB information with their communities.

Experiences of families living with tuberculosis patients in the North West province, South Africa

“…Herdianti et al ( 2020 ) emphasised that the family should be knowledgeable in TB prevention in order to take precautionary measures for themselves and their environment. Bedingfield et al ( 2022 ), in addition stated that the gaps in TB education and counselling have a negative impact on the patients and their families as they are meant to correct misconceptions about TB and reduce the transmission. In addition, Alberta and Widyastuti ( 2021 ), Sulistyono, Susanto and Tristiana ( 2020 ), found that personal TB protection was not practiced in Indonesia.…”

Predictors of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in a teaching hospital in Ghana: A case-control study

“…In Ethiopia, it was reported that people who lived in households with only one room were five times more at risk of acquiring MDR-TB than those living in more than one room [ 24 ], which is coherent with the finding that there is a high risk related to acquiring resistant strains from infected hosts in crowded places. There is, therefore, the need for education on innovative and context-targeted strategies for persons with TB who may be sharing single rooms with their families and friends [ 25 ].…”