Preventative Nursing Care towards Decreasing the Prevalence of Leprosy in India

Background: The number of people affected by leprosy has fallen significantly in India, the prevalence was reduced by 80 % between 2001 and 2005. However, the public health sector is still poor, which contributes to a high level of disease. In addition, there is stigma attached to leprosy, which continues to challenge healthcare and nursing care. Aim: The aim of this research was to find out what sort of health care is provided in India in order to prevent leprosy. The nursing care available for people troubled with the infection was investigated. Method: The work was based on a combination of research reviews consisting of 22 research articles and two in-depth interviews. 6 of the articles are qualitative, 1 is cross-sectional, 2 are literature reviews and 13 are quantitative studies. Result: Using these findings as base, preventative strategies were suggested which could improve the quality of healthcare and nursing care, which may provide possible ways of decreasing the number of leprosy cases in India. Further improvements are necessary to fight the disease. Stigma is one of them; it is based on ignorance and prejudice, stresses the need of education surrounding the disease, challenging employees, patients and the general public. Also, knowledge of hygiene could be improved along with general improvement in nursing care. Discussion: Combining research reviews and in-depth interviews has been of great value to the outcome of the results. An overall high level of nursing care is hard to achieve in India due to challenges in terms of healthcare investment, lack of knowledge about leprosy, inadequate hygiene routines, inequality and the lack of educated staff. Nurses must be qualified, have good listening and communication skills and evaluate which health education method should be used in order to be able to educate others about the disease. This is the most important element in the eradication of leprosy.