Abstract
Setting: Selected schools in East York, an ethnically diverse municipality of 110,000 people within Toronto.
Objective: To explore school staff’s attitudes and beliefs about the nature of tuberculosis and its possible effect on the function and culture of schools.
Design: Four focus groups of 6–8 school staff, lasting from 1 to 1.5 hours, were held in the spring of 1997 at four different schools deemed to be at high risk for tuberculosis contact tracing.
Results: The study identified the following dominant themes: fear of tuberculosis and its impact on school, lack of knowledge and the need for education concerning tuberculosis, and issues in multiculturalism.
Conclusion: Tuberculosis was perceived by staff of East York schools to be a source of fear. Lack of accurate and reliable information concerning tuberculosis contributes to this situation. Staff identified age-specific and culturally relevant, educational initiatives as means to reduce this fear.
Résumé
Milieu: plusieurs écoles sélectionnées de East York, une municipalité de la ville de Toronto dont la population de 110 000 personnes regroupe des ethnies diverses.
Objectif: essayer de déterminer l’attitude et les croyances du personnel au sujet de la tuberculose et de ses effets possibles sur le fonctionnement et la culture en milieu scolaire.
Méthodologie: quatre groupes de consultation composés de membres du personnel de 6 à 8 écoles, que l’on a réuni de une heure à une heure et demie au cours du printemps 1997, dans quatre écoles différentes considérées comme présentant des risques élevés de contact avec la tuberculose.
Résultats: l’étude a identifié les grandes questions suivantes: la peur de la tuberculose et de ses retombées en milieu scolaire, l’absence de connaissances et le besoin d’expliquer la tuberculose, ainsi que la problématique du multiculturalisme.
Conclusion: le personnel de East York considère que la tuberculose fait peur. Le manque d’informations exactes et fiables au sujet de la tuberculose explique cette situation. Le personnel a proposé des mesures éducatives, adaptées aux cultures et aux catégories d’âge, comme moyen pour atténuer la peur.
Footnotes
This study was funded by the East York Health Unit
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