Baridi: A Culture-Bound Syndrome Among the Bena Peoples in Tanzania

Working with interpreters in cross-cultural qualitative research in the context of a developing country: systematic literature review

AIMS

This article is a report of a systematic literature review describing how cross-cultural researchers conducted qualitative studies with interpreters in Tanzania. The purpose was to draw methodological implications for working with interpreters within the context of developing countries.

BACKGROUND

In a growing number of cross-cultural nursing studies in developing countries, interpreters play a crucial role for imparting verbal and cultural understanding. In many studies, however, the interpreters' role and their influences on the findings are not adequately described, and therefore the study credibility is weakened.

DATA SOURCES

Cross-cultural qualitative studies conducted with interpreters in Tanzania were searched in four databases. Meeting our inclusion criteria were 20 studies published from 1994-2009.

REVIEW METHODS

We used Garrard's Matrix Method following Wallin and Ahlström's framework to analyse how cross-cultural researchers described the role of interpreters.

RESULTS

We identified three major patterns of how researchers worked with interpreters: (i) invisible assistance, (ii) independent fieldwork and (iii) integrated collaboration. In many studies, interpreters' information was limited. They were often asked to collect data in the field without the presence of the researcher. They were integrated into the research process beyond data collection, such as subject recruitment, review of interviews, transcription and translation and analysis.

CONCLUSION

From planning of research to dissemination of the findings, nurse researchers should carefully consider interpreters' influences on the findings. They may use a set of questions we developed for working with interpreters in developing countries to systematically describe the interpreter's role and maximize their research credibility.

Private sector response to HIV/AIDS in Tanzania

This study assessed HIV/AIDS prevention practices used by employers in Tanzania. The study also aimed to provide a feasibility analysis of the readiness for HIV/AIDS prevention and other employee health promotion, disease prevention and management interventions within the private sector in Tanzania and to inform emerging scientific literature on the prevalence and composition of employee health education programs in developing countries. Responses to a questionnaire were obtained via structured, face-to-face interviews during visits with company leaders at their workplaces in Tanzania. The survey was conducted from January to March of 2008. It was found that most companies (82%) offer some form of assistance for employees living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic health conditions, and most (73%) also offered HIV/AIDS prevention programs. Use of peer educators was a common feature of HIV prevention efforts. Companies commonly provided free condoms for men (64%); somewhat fewer (55%) provide female condoms. The majority of companies (72%) had a written HIV/AIDS policy. The high rates of program offerings for employees suggest that employers have adopted HIV/AIDS prevention programs, though the wide variability in program offerings indicates employers' beliefs vary concerning the impact of programs, health benefits, and policies.