Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ndmmz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-30T21:42:01.710Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Experiences of Ebola Survivors: Causes of Distress and Sources of Resilience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 February 2017

Patricia M. Schwerdtle ,
Veronique De Clerck  and
Virginia Plummer
Patricia M. Schwerdtle*
Affiliation:
Monash University, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Nursing & Midwifery, Melbourne, Australia
Veronique De Clerck
Affiliation:
Médecins Sans Frontières, Brussels, Belgium
Virginia Plummer
Affiliation:
Monash University, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Nursing & Midwifery, Melbourne, Australia Peninsula Health, Frankston, Victoria, Australia
*
Correspondence: Patricia Schwerdtle, MPH PO Box 527 Frankston, Victoria, 3199 Australia E-mail: patricia.schwerdtle@monash.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction

An appreciation of the experience of Ebola survivors is critical for community engagement and an effective outbreak response. Few qualitative, descriptive studies have been conducted to date that concentrate on the voices of Ebola survivors.

Problem

This study aimed to explore the experiences of Ebola survivors following the West African epidemic of 2014.

Method

An interpretive, qualitative design was selected using semi-structured interviews as the method of data collection. Data were collected in August 2015 by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Belgium, for the purposes of internal evaluation. Data collection occurred at three sites in Liberia and Sierra Leone and involved 25 participants who had recovered from Ebola. Verbal consent was obtained, audio recordings were de-identified, and ethics approval was provided by Monash University (Melbourne, Australia).

Findings

Two major themes emerged from the study: “causes of distress” and “sources of resilience.” Two further sub-themes were identified from each major theme: the “multiplicity of death,” “abandonment,” “self and community protection and care,” and “coping resources and activities.” The two major themes were dominant across all three sample groups, though each survivor experienced infection, treatment, and recovery differently.

Conclusions

By identifying and mobilizing the inherent capacity of communities and acknowledging the importance of incorporating the social model of health into culturally competent outbreak responses, there is an opportunity to transcend the victimization effect of Ebola and empower communities, ultimately strengthening the response.

SchwerdtlePM, De ClerckV, PlummerV. Experiences of Ebola Survivors: Causes of Distress and Sources of Resilience. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(3):234–239.

Keywords

disease outbreaksepidemicshemorrhagic fever Ebolaqualitative researchsurvivors
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , June 2017 , pp. 234 - 239
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Conflicts of interest: none

References

1. Buseh, AG, Stevens, PE, Bromberg, M, Kelber, ST. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa: challenges, opportunities, and policy priority areas. Nurs Outlook. 2015;63(1):30-40.Google Scholar
2. Dye, C; WHO Ebola Response Team. Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa: the first 9 months. N Engl J Med. 2015;372(2):189.Google Scholar
3. Heymann, DL, Chen, LC, Takemi, K, et al. Global health security: the wider lessons from the West African Ebola Virus Disease epidemic. Lancet. 2015;385(9980):1884-1901.Google Scholar
4. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). Pushed to the limit and beyond: a year into the largest ever Ebola outbreak. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/sites/usa/files/msf143061.pdf. Published 2015. Accessed March 17, 2016.Google Scholar
5. Walker, NF, Whitty, CJM. Tackling emerging infections: clinical and public health lessons from the West African Ebola Virus Disease outbreak, 2014-2015. Clin Med (Lond). 2015;15(5):447-460.Google Scholar
6. Menendez, C, Lucas, A, Munguambe, K, Langer, A. Ebola crises: the unequal impact on woman and children’s health. Lancet Glob Health. 2015;3:130.Google Scholar
7. The World Bank. The global burden of disease: main findings for Sub Saharan Africa. http://www.worldbank.org.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/en/news/feature/2013/09/09/global-burden-of-disease-findings-for-sub-saharan-africa. Accessed April 20, 2016.Google Scholar
8. Rosoff, PM. Caring for the suffering: meeting the Ebola crisis responsibly. Am J Bioeth. 2015;15(4):26-32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9. Bortel, TV, Basnayake, A, Wurie, F, et al. Bulletin World Health Organization. 2015;94:210-214. http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/94/3/15-158543/en/. Accessed February 12, 2016.Google Scholar
10. World Health Organization (WHO). Factors that contributed to undetected spread of the Ebola virus and impeded rapid containment. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/one-year-report/factors/en/. Accessed April 10, 2016.Google Scholar
11. Bremen, JG, Van der Groen, G, Peters, CJ, Heymann, DL. International colloquium on Ebola virus research: summary report. J Infect Dis. 1997;176(4):1058-1063.Google Scholar
12. De Roo, A, Ado, B, Rose, B, Guimand, Y, Fonck, K, Colebunders, R. Survey among survivors of the 1995 Ebola epidemic in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of Congo: their feelings and experiences. Trop Med Int Health. 1998;3(11):883-885.Google Scholar
13. Person, B, Sy, F, Holton, K, et al. Fear and stigma: the epidemic within the SARS outbreak. Emerg Infect Dis. 2004;10(2):358-363.Google Scholar
14. Jones, JH, Salathe, M. Early assessment of anxiety and behavioral response to novel swine origin influenza A(H1N1). PLoS One. 2009;4(12):8032.Google Scholar
15. Tognotti, E. Lessons from the history of quarantine, from plague to influenza A. Emerg Infect Dis. 2013;19(2):254-259.Google Scholar
16. Hall, RCW, Hall, RCW, Chapman, M. 1995 Kikwit Ebola outbreak: lessons hospitals and physicians can apply to future viral epidemics. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2008;30(5):446-452.Google Scholar
17. Taylor, B, Francis, K. “Interviewing and analysis.” In: Qualitative Research in the Health Sciences: Methodologies, Methods, and Processes. Taylor BJ, Francis K, (eds). New York USA; Routledge: 2013.Google Scholar
18. Braun, V, Clarke, V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol. 2006;3:77-101.Google Scholar
19. Lazarus, Folkman. Coping with job stress: measures and future directions for scale development. J Appl Psychol. 1984;71(3):377-385.Google Scholar
20. World Health Organization (WHO). Ebola Situation Reports Archive. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/208883/1/ebolasitrep_10Jun2016_eng.pdf?ua=1. Accessed November 11, 2016.Google Scholar
21. Cooper, H. They helped erase Ebola in Liberia. Now Liberia is erasing them. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/10/world/africa/they-helped-erase-ebola-in-liberia-now-liberia-is-erasing-them.html?_r=0. Published December 10, 2015. Accessed February 10, 2016.Google Scholar
22. Chandler, C, Fairhead, J, Kelly, A, et al. Ebola: limitations of correcting misinformation. Lancet. 2014;385(9975):1275-1277.Google Scholar
23. Matua, GA, Van der Wal, DM. Living under a constant threat of Ebola: a phenomenological study of survivors and family caregivers during an Ebola outbreak. J Nurs Res. 2015;23(3):217-224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24. Marshall, K, Smith, S. Religion and Ebola: learning from experience. Lancet. 2015;386(10005):24-25.Google Scholar
25. Sanjuan, P, Molero, F, Fuster, MJ, Nouvilas, E. Coping with HIV related stigma and well-being. J Happiness Stud. 2013;1(14):709-722.Google Scholar