{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T05:38:50Z","timestamp":1777613930674,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,11]],"date-time":"2024-03-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1710115200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/journals\/pages\/open_access\/funder_policies\/chorus\/standard_publication_model"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of Global Health Equity"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Podoconiosis is a non-infectious neglected tropical disease caused by long-term exposure to irritant volcanic soils. It results in severe physical, psychological and financial consequences. Heart and Sole Africa (HASA) is a non-governmental, community-based organization providing management to podoconiosis patients in Rwanda. We sought to analyze the impact of their program on the lives of patients.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Quantitative surveys recorded the participants\u2019 demographics, adherence to HASA's management recommendations and changes in quality of life (QOL). Qualitative questions were used to gather respondent perspectives on HASA programming.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>We interviewed 127 patients from HASA's Musanze (n=47) and Burera (n=80) clinics. Almost all participants (98.4%) reported statistically significant (p&amp;lt;0.01) improvements in their QOL, and more than one-half (51.2%) had a favorable adherence score of &amp;gt;80%. Qualitative feedback identified specific challenges to adherence and recognition of program success in symptom management.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Our study demonstrated the value of community-based podoconiosis programming in improving the lives of patients. Practices such as regular feet washing, emollient application, shoe wearing and limb raising can result in a marked reduction of morbidity. Our findings support the argument for scaling up these management practices across Rwanda.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/trstmh\/trae007","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,11]],"date-time":"2024-03-11T09:19:17Z","timestamp":1710148757000},"page":"520-526","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["\u2018We no longer experience the same pain\u2019: a cross-sectional study assessing the impact of Heart and Sole Africa's podoconiosis prevention education program"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"118","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1622-2834","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Agazi Fitsum","family":"Gebreselassie","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for One Health, University of Global Health Equity , Butaro , Rwanda"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Natnael","family":"Shimelash","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Simulation Center, University of 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