Journey for a cure: Illness narratives of obstetric fistula survivors in North Central Nigeria.
biographical disruption
chaos
narrative typology
narratives
obstetric fistula
quest
restitution
Journal
Sociology of health & illness
ISSN: 1467-9566
Titre abrégé: Sociol Health Illn
Pays: England
ID NLM: 8205036
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Mar 2024
Mar 2024
Historique:
received:
06
12
2021
accepted:
25
08
2023
medline:
18
3
2024
pubmed:
3
10
2023
entrez:
3
10
2023
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Obstetric fistula is a life transforming event resulting in embodied biographical disruption. Survivors suffer myriad long-term physical and emotional consequences. This paper is an account of a narrative inquiry, conducted with 15 fistula survivors in North-central, Nigeria, who described how their identities had been transformed by their condition. A narrative therapeutic approach, using Frank's 'chaos, restitution and quest' typology, was used to map their recovery narratives. 'Chaos', described by Frank as the opposite of restitution, dominated, with women losing hope of recovery. Women's shift towards 'restitution' began with treatment, but inadequate health-care access often delayed this process. In their quest narratives, women's life and identify changes enabled them to derive meaning from their experience of obstetric fistula within the context of their own lives. The findings highlight socio-structural factors raising the risk of obstetric fistula, which in turn causes biographical disruption and hampers sufferers' treatment and recovery. Rehabilitation should include income-generating skills to bring succour to survivors, particularly those whose incontinence persists after repairs.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37786367
doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.13715
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
437-456Informations de copyright
© 2023 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.
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