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New study tracks uses of Where There Is No Doctor
Respondents use Where There Is No Doctor in countries in red
A team of graduate students at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Health spent the past 8 months developing and distributing an online survey as their Capstone Project. They surveyed book buyers and Gratis Fund free book recipients of Where There Is No Doctor. Thanks to the nearly 400 people who took this pilot survey (maybe you among them?), we now have preliminary statistics to underscore the thousands of letters in our files.
Some highlights of the study are:
Where There Is No Doctor (WTND) promotes community change.
Nearly half of respondents said the book motivated them to work on a health project. Projects reported included:
- starting a clinic
- developing health-related materials
- encouraging the use of latrines
- recording health broadcasts for local community radio
- working to protect water sources from contamination.
Most people share WTND with others – a lot of others.
84% of respondents said they shared the book with another person or group, or for training purposes. (93% of Gratis respondents reported sharing the book.) 25% of respondents reported sharing the book with over 100 people.
People consult WTND frequently.
Most respondents use WTND a minimum of once a month. 78% of Gratis book recipients reported that they use the book weekly.
People use WTND to treat others’ health, but also to improve their own.
Over 90% of respondents obtained the book to “help someone else with their health.” Over half of Gratis respondents also said treating their own health was a very important reason for using the book.
Most respondents have no other health resource books.
Only 20% report using any books similar to WTND. Of that 20%, many report using other Hesperian publications.
WTND is used mostly in the Global South.
34% of those surveyed used the book in Latin America, 29% in Africa, and 18% in Asia.
Most people learn about WTND from others.
51% surveyed said they heard about the book from a friend or coworker; 19% heard about it from an organization.
We thank all the Where There Is No Doctor users around the world who participated in this study, which provides important documentation of the impact of our work. To see a brief presentation of the findings, click here. To read the full report, click here. Have further comments or questions? Let us know!