Health Status of Rural Communities in the Dominican

Republic

By: Lorilee Greguol, Krista Gosselin,

& Hoi-Man Dorothy Leung

Country at a Glance

Source: Dominican Republic (2007). Retrieved June 25, 2007 from U. S. Department of State Web site: http://www.state.gov/cms_images/map_dominican_republic.jpg

These pictures highlight one source of water supply for some Dominicans in rural

communities.

These are some examples of the type of “housing” that can be found

in the rural communities of the Dominican Republic.

For some Dominican children, this is the reality.

“[It is] like hidden villages just right outside of the city that you turn down one dirt road to get to, and they are just overflowing with people … It was unreal…it basically all came down to

money and actually having access to going to facilities” (K.G., June 20, 2007, personal communication).

Community Problems

Nursing Interventions

Further Implications

Source: World Health Organization

President Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic and First Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernández met with the then Secretary-General Kofi Annan on August 4, 2006, where Mr. Annan

was presented with a report on the country's progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). UN chronicle | millennium development watch (2006). Retrieve

June 26, 2007 from http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2006/issue4/0406p74.htm

Other recommendations for future practice include the development of

a well child-screening program, disease surveillance, immunization

activities, and other community initiatives. There also needs to be

an efficient sharing of information by developing a complete health record database (Carman & Scott, 2004).

ReferencesCarman, S.K., & Scott, J. (2004). Exploring the health status of two communities in the Dominican Republic.

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https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/dr.htmlDominican Republic (2007). Retrieved June 25, 2007 from U. S. Department of State Web site:

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Kennedy, E., Mannar, V., & Dyengar, V. (2003). Alleviating hidden hunger. Retrieved June 23, 2007 from www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazines/Bulletin/Bull451/article12.pdf

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