Live long and prosper : assessment of the effect of participation in self-help groups for landmine accident survivors in rural Cambodia through analysing pre- and post-intervention changes in health determinants

Abstract

Objective: Landmines injuries are considered a major public health issue. Cambodia is the 4th most land mined country in the world. Landmine accident survivors face challenges with poverty and pain, with little chance of improving their lives on their own. Trauma Care Foundation Cambodia started with community based self-help groups in 2000. The aim is to study was to evaluate the impact of self- help group on health determinants in mine accident survivors and war victims. Method: Pre- and post-intervention interviews, about different health determinants, were conducted on 91 self-help group members, all participating between 2 and 8 years, from Battambang and Pailin provinces in Cambodia. The main denominator of these health determinants was poverty, including underlying factors for poverty. This pretest-posttest assessment of changes in health determinants and following participation in SHG has been conducted using non-parametric statistical analyses. Results: Statistical significant improvement was detected in health determinants such as; housing standard (p=<.001), total income sources (p=<.001), total number of animal species (p=<.001), months with lack of food (p=.011), total social participation (p=<.001), socioeconomic position (p=<.001). No significant change was detected in health determinants such as hectares of farming area (p=.399). Conclusion: A correlation between SHG and improvement in health determinants seems likely. Further research with a more direct focus on health, including all self- help group members, not only the mine accident survivors, with a control group with individuals from the same districts, with and without landmine injuries, might substantiate a causality between the self-help groups and the improvements in health determinants and health. Keywords: Mine accident survivor. Disability. Community self-help groups. Health determinants. Poverty. Non-parametric method. One group pretest-posttest. Cambodia.