Monday, October 27, 2014
Hypertension – one of Philippines top cause of morbidity and mortality across all age groups – have been an increasingly difficult problem to control, not because of the ineffectiveness of the drugs and medical measures available, but because of the non-compliance among patients. Part of the increasing incidences of hypertension nationwide is also brought about by unhealthy lifestyle which Filipinos typically do not realize is beginning to pull their life down the drain. Smoking, alcoholic beverage drinking, eating of too salty or too fatty meals, lack of exercise are just some of the unhealthy practices of individuals who are predisposed to hypertension. Moreover, genetics also come into play and put an individual at higher risk to get the disease.
Not surprisingly, the 3-week long exposure of Team Luop last April 2014 showed us that Hypertension is indeed a leader in morbidity. Residents, male and female alike, have been stricken by severely uncontrolled hypertension. What is surprising though is that most of these cases are either undiagnosed or not prescribed with any maintenance medications. Although the campaign of the local government to detect cases and give out free medications for these patients is at play, there is still a lack in case finding and detection. More importantly, even though medications are free and readily available for those who are enrolled under the Regional Health Unit’s program on Hypertension, their behaviour and lack of gusto to control their disease limit their compliance to the medication.
What the Team saw fit was to create a project that will not only address the lifestyle issues of the residents in the barangay who are all at risk for hypertension, but also to increase their compliance to the medications given and make sure that case detection and finding is mastered by the health team. Ultimately, the goal of the project spearheaded by Ms.Jamera Hajijul is to increase the number of controlled hypertension among those diagnosed.
The initiative to address the issue on hypertension began with the formation of the Anti-Hypertension Association, the core team assigned to carry out and implement programs and activities to control hypertension. They are also there to ensure sustainability and continuity of programs even with the Team already out of the picture. The team is composed of the Barangay Captain as Chairman, Ms. Rosie Braganza, PHM as Vice-Chairman, the Kagawadfor Health Ms. Lolita Decipulo, and 6 purok leaders who will be assigned to implement the projects in the grass roots.
Several programs have been carried out in order to prepare the members of the AHA!, all of which were geared to equipping the members of the basic knowledge on the prevention, monitoring, and control of Hypertension. A 2-day session on the basics of hypertension was held last October 9-10, 2014 where they were informed on the risk factors, causes, signs and symptoms, and measures to control hypertension. They have also been trained on how to use the Sphygmomanometer to measure Blood pressure. Aimed not only to prevent and control hypertension, this seminar dubbed as “AHA! Seminar and Training” also focused on the detection, case finding and recording of hypertensive cases, wherein they were oriented to Blood Pressure Registry.
A separate session on the planning of future programs was also done to empower the members of AHA! on program implementation. Here, a mass BP Taking and short lecture for the community people was organized by the core team members which they successfully carried out last October 16, 2014. The mass BP taking was a major success since most of the community people ages 18 years and above sought consult, and the BP taking was done by the AHA! coreteam themselves. Moreover, the AHA Secretary gave a short announcement to the people of barangay Luop on the status quo of hypertension in the barangay. She was also given the opportunity to give a short lecture on the ways of controlling hypertension and more importantly, she was given the time to inform the crowd on the proposed projects of the Association, which included BP Registry of Hypertensive patients per purok.
Lifestyle being part of the issue that the group wanted to address brought the idea of increasing the community people’s awareness on the risks and ways to control hypertension. This is why a Hataw Program entitled “Alta Presyon Mo, Igiling Mo, Zumba Dance Exercise” was conceptualized. This took place on two occasions, October 17 and October 21, where a 30-minute dance was performed by those present. People of all ages were invited, and a noticeable increase in participants was evident on the 2nd week of the programme. A cooking show contest dubbed as “PagkaunKontra Alta Presyon” was also done last October 23, 2014 to help increase awareness of the community people on the meals that are deemed healthy for both hypertensive and non-hypertensive people.
The cooking show contest was a battle between puroks, where 5 out of the 6 puroks competed in the contest. Each purok had 4-6 members who were tasked to cook a meal based on the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (or DASH diet). Purok 4 ultimately won the contest with their stellar dish and presentation.
To set the priorities and goals of the AHA! straight, the group with their Program Coordinator met ,last October 22, 2014 to formulate their vision and mission. They also used this opportunity to plan for the drafting of the ordinance which would address the increasing non-compliance of diagnosed hypertensive patients within the barangay.
With these programs and activities implemented, the Team could see a ray of light at the end of that dark tunnel. We can see, with the motivation and enthusiasm of the core team, there is sustainability to these projects. More importantly, with the active participation of most of the community people, we can hope that hypertension can be controlled in their barangay in the near future.
