Seeing Past the Symptoms: Medical Narratives of Ghanaian Eye Patients

This research examines the interplay of factors that affect health care and health behaviors pertaining to sight in the African nation of Ghana. A series of direct interviews and observations of patients of Unite For Sight's partner eye clinics were conducted. These were used to create medical narratives, in order to elucidate how social, cultural, economic, and political elements contribute to illness incidence, course, and outcome. The efficacy of the medical narrative in this context was evaluated. Additionally, the study explored how determination of the forces that shape the situations these patients find themselves in can bring insight into the efficacy of various methods of providing care, and could greatly impact how the clinics, Unite for Sight, and other NGO's operate.