Hesperian Health Guides
Chapter 2: Solving Health Problems
Some problems must be treated with skilled medical care. But many health problems can be treated at home or can be prevented by healthy living.
Whenever you have signs of a health problem, you need information to solve it. You need to know what the problem is, its cause, what can be done to treat it, and how to prevent it from happening again.
In this chapter, we tell the story of one woman, Juanita, and how she solved her health problem. Although the details apply only to Juanita, the way she thinks about her problem and works to solve it can apply to many health problems. You can use this method to solve a health problem yourself or to make decisions about getting good medical care.
Juanita discovered that a lasting solution to her health problem involved looking beyond her own situation. She also had to identify the root causes of the problem in her community and country, and work to change them. Like Juanita, you and your community can use this method to identify many causes of poor health for women and others—and plan ways to make your community a healthier place.