Table 6 Summary of coping strategies reported among case study households.
Strategy | Highly vulnerable | Vulnerable | Least vulnerable |
|---|---|---|---|
Borrowing | Rarely borrowed cash because they were not creditworthy (too poor to pay back); fear of borrowing and being unable to pay back leading to bad reputation & gossip | A common strategy because they had moderate assets but still not enough to rely more on other sources of credit like shops or private providers | Not common because they had other sources of credit but they could easily borrow if need arose. |
|  | Amount of money borrowed was small (KES 10) because their friends were equally poor | Could borrow up to KES 100–200 | Could easily borrow KES 5000 if need be because their friends were in a good economic situation |
Credit from private providers | Not accessible by these households due to poverty | Could get treatment on credit but limited amounts depending on providers understanding of their economic status | Unlimited access to credit from providers because they were wealth, had permanent jobs & could easily pay by end of the month |
Credit from shops | Occasionally but small amounts to buy drugs | Had access to credit but could be denied when they asked for large amounts | Could acquire all goods on credit until end of the month |
Sale of assets (Goats & chickens) | Those that had assets sold them to pay for treatment or other needs but some had nothing to sell | Sold assets but usually to clear a debt at private providers. | Assets not sold to pay for treatment because there were other 'better' options |
Sale of labor on farms | Preferred but not used due to drought | A possibility but drought limited its use | Unlikely for these households to use the strategy |
Borrowing drugs | Preferred because they had no access to cash and were not required to pay back drugs | Not reported | Not reported |
Sharing drugs | A common strategy when drugs are borrowed or bought | Common for households with many children | Reported when more than one child fell ill at the same time |
Ignoring illness | A common strategy because they rarely had cash and access to other strategies was limited | Reported on two occasions because illnesses not perceived serious enough | Not reported |