Oral Rehydration Therapy and the Control of Diarrheal Diseases (Peace Corps, 1985, 566 pages): Module Two: Diarrhea, dehydration and rehydration: Session 5 - Rehydration therapy: Trainer Attachment 5B: Using models to show why rehydration is important

Oral Rehydration Therapy and the Control of Diarrheal Diseases (Peace Corps, 1985, 566 pages)

Module Two: Diarrhea, dehydration and rehydration

Session 5 - Rehydration therapy

		(introductory text...)
		Handout 5A: ORT preparation worksheet
		Trainer Attachment 5A: Materials and equipment needed for ORT stations
		Trainer Attachment 5B: Using models to show why rehydration is important
		Trainer Attachment 5C: Suggestions for a lecturette on the hows and whys of ORS
		Trainer Attachment 5D: Oral rehydration therapy: the scientific and technical basis
		Trainer Attachment 5E: Storing and maintaining supplies of oral rehydration salts (ORS)
		Trainer Attachment 5F: Oral rehydration with dirty water?
		Trainer Attachment 5G: A pinch of salt' a handful of molasses...
		Trainer Attachment 5H: Cautious prescription

Trainer Attachment 5B: Using models to show why rehydration is important

Below are two examples of simple ways to present the idea of rehydration. See Helping Health Workers Learn, Chapter 24, pages 17-22 for additional ideas.

Plastic Beg Model

Take a clear plastic hag with no tear or bole in it. With a felt-tip pea (the kind with waterproof ink) draw a picture of a baby on it. Fill the bag with water; the picture of the baby will be full and well-rounded, like a healthy child. Now make a small hole la the lower part of tee bag with a pin. As water flows out, the bag and the picture will become wrinkled. This shows what happens to a child who has diarrhoea and becomes dehydrated.

Ask a trainee to pour water into the bag faster than it is flowing out of the hole. This shows what happens with oral rehydration; the picture of the baby will become normal again. Now seal the hole with a piece of tape or sticking plaster so that the water stops flowing out. This shows that the diarrhoea has stopped and no more rehydration is needed.

PLASTIC BAG MODEL TO DEMONSTRATE DEHYDRATION

Gourd Baby

To learn about dehydration, the children can conduct their own experiment by making a gourd baby' like this one:

Learn about dehydration

How can dehydration from diarrhea be prevented?

The children can find the answer by playing a game with a gourd baby. They pull the plug, then try to put back as much water as the baby is losing, like in this image.

They learn that, as long as all the lost water is replaced, the water level will never go down and the baby will not become dehydrated.

A child with diarrhea needs to drink at least 1 glass of liquid each time he has a watery stool.

Giving lots of liquid to a baby with diarrhea may at first increase the amount of diarrhea. But this is all right. Usually the diarrhea will soon get better. The important thing is to be sure that the child drinks as much liquid as he loses.

(From: Bower and Werner. Ch. 24 pp. 18-20. And WHO, Guidelines for Training Community Health Workers in Nutrition. P.111)