Preventative Nursing Care towards Decreasing the Prevalence of Leprosy in India

Abstract: Background: The number of people affected by leprosy has fallen significantly in India, theprevalence was reduced by 80 % between 2001 and 2005. However, the public health sector isstill poor, which contributes to a high level of disease. In addition, there is stigma attached toleprosy, which continues to challenge healthcare and nursing care. Aim: The aim of thisresearch was to find out what sort of health care is provided in India in order to preventleprosy. 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 researcharticles and two in-depth interviews. 6 of the articles are qualitative, 1 is cross-sectional, 2 areliterature reviews and 13 are quantitative studies. Result: Using these findings as base,preventative strategies were suggested which could improve the quality of healthcare andnursing care, which may provide possible ways of decreasing the number of leprosy cases inIndia. Further improvements are necessary to fight the disease. Stigma is one of them; it isbased on ignorance and prejudice, stresses the need of education surrounding the disease,challenging employees, patients and the general public. Also, knowledge of hygiene could beimproved along with general improvement in nursing care. Discussion: Combining researchreviews and in-depth interviews has been of great value to the outcome of the results. Anoverall high level of nursing care is hard to achieve in India due to challenges in terms ofhealthcare investment, lack of knowledge about leprosy, inadequate hygiene routines,inequality and the lack of educated staff. Nurses must be qualified, have good listening andcommunication skills and evaluate which health education method should be used in order tobe able to educate others about the disease. This is the most important element in theeradication of leprosy.