New and Upcoming Community Health Classes
Based on feedback from the new regional medical director, health clinic workers, and the local nutrition advisor to the director, Sahara Partners’ Community Health Programs staff members have been offering several new health education trainings this year.
The first training focused on health advice for diabetics. These classes educated locals on various diabetes related topics such as: how to choose high fiber foods, how to avoid unhealthy dietary habits and embrace healthy habits, how to determine proper timing for medication use, and how to establish a consistent meal routine necessary for managing blood sugar levels. The training was also done in collaboration with a local television cooking show which frequently features healthy cooking recipes and demonstrations. Diabetics and their family members were encouraged to use the cooking program as a helpful resource to implement healthier food recipes into their daily routines.
The second training was for women with gestational diabetes. The training offered education in the areas of disease prevention, disease management, how to watch for warning signs or areas of concern, healthy diet and exercise, and also the effects on both mother and baby during pregnancy. A third training offered first aid classes to school nurses. Each of the trainings included a summary all of the relevant information in handouts that the participants could take home and refer to in the future. Additionally, Sahara Partners staff members designed and produced visual aid posters to accompany the training classes which could then be displayed in local schools and clinics.
At the end of last year, our staff also created a health video on what to do when a child is choking. This video including both choking prevention suggestions as well as information and demonstration of what to actually do when a child is choking. The video was filmed in partnership with the local cinema school and used local actors speaking in the local dialect. We also collaborated with a local ENT doctor who appeared in the video and helped convey a clear grasp of the medical terms and explained choking invention procedures. You can view the final version of the video HERE. In the future, we hope to develop similar health videos that can be shared on social media to increase the reach of educating the public in these areas of health concern.
Community Health Programs staff is currently developing a blood pressure seminar which will hopefully be offered to local health clinic staff members. This training will focus on issues related to blood pressure, such as how to better understanding and deal with the differences between hypotension and hypertension and how to use a blood pressure cuff.
Additionally, a new Community Health Programs initiative is in the development pipeline and will train adult children in how to care for their aging parents who often have difficult and/or challenging health issues. We have been gathering information on the frequent health issues facing the elderly in our local community and finding out the areas of greatest need with regards to family members managing the care of parents who are often housebound or relatively immobile.
More updates to come in the future!
