Saturday, May 4, 2013
In diagnosing a
community one of the most crucial points along the process is the problem
identification and prioritization, as these will serve as a better room in
finding solutions and interventions that can contribute to help the community to
become self-reliant and determined.
Prior to conducting the community diagnosis, intensive planning was done by the
team Pangulogon as this will be the first major activity that would not only
diagnose the community but would also permit the community people to get to
know the medical students and as well as for the students to be more acquainted
with the people that they will be serving for 4 (four) years.
The Team Pangulogon
resolved to apply the “bottom’s up
method” using the Multi-Voting technique. In the said technique and method
the views of the community people were gathered first and followed by the
opinions of barangay officials. Subdividing the community people according to
their purok (1-4), we then requested them to come up with their own top 15
(ten) problems separately, while the medical students came up with their top 10
(ten) problems using the Maglaya
Prioritization Method among the problems identified that were taken from
primary data surveyed from the previous exposure. These problems were combined
to form a master list of 15 problems and from these, each community people were
asked to vote on paper their Top 10 perceived problems, which was immediately
tallied by some of the group members of Team Pangulogon. At the onset, we had
10 common problems, but the group felt that 2 of them were beyond our capacity
and was, in one way or another, not health related. The following are the TOP 8
problems as per the community people:
1.
Poor
access to a quality health care facility
Situated nearly 6 kilometers away from the main Poblacion and with the status quo revealing the absence of a health center in the barangay, access of the residents to a quality health care facility is deemed difficult by the team Pangulogon. With the wildly steep and rocky road, access to the Rural Health Unit situated at the Poblacion is also difficult. This has indeed been a concern for most of the residents in the community, as they find it either difficult or too bothersome to go to the health RHU, entailing them to spend for their fare. As a result, a lesser proportion of the community people seek for professional health care.
Proposed Solution: Putting up of a Health Center
2. 65%
of households falling within or below poverty line
Being immensely dense with hectares of coconut trees, corn and rice fields, Pangulogon is considered to be agricultural. There is no doubt therefore that most of the residents are farmers and depend on the yield of their crops for their day to day income. Unfortunately more than half of the households interviewed by the team seem to not have enough income to meet their daily expenses. Most of them too, according to the standards set by the Department of Social Welfare and Development fall on or under the poverty line.
Fortunately, the barangay is endowed with so much resources that opportunities for economical growth is in all ways possible. There are also other ways in which we could exhaust the community's manpower, since most of the female counterpart of the farmers stay at home. Being one of the community's priority problems, the group saw it fit to include this in their list of Comprehensive Plan, and with the community people's eagerness to have this solved, sustenance of the project is indeed highly achievable.
Proposed Solution: Use of alternative sources of income such as maximization of the use of the plant Coconut.
3.
Poor
nutritional status among children under 6 years of age
Contrary to the belief of other people that children who are underweight are the only ones considered to be malnourished, it is also true that children who go beyond their expected weight are also malnourished (over nourished for that matter). It is quite alarming to note that one child is poorly nourished - as this will expose the child to countless diseases. Moreover, it is more alarming to note that not only one, but roughly 70 out of 75 children are undernourished in one aspect or another. 
On the survey made for the nutritional status of children under 6 years of age, it was found out that 95 percent of them were either stunted or wasted. Through the WHO Anthroplast, which automatically computed for the children's respective BMI and comparing their height and weight versus their age, it became apparent to the group what we really needed to do.
Nutrition is vital for a child's overall growth and development. This can be achieved by giving proper diet and nutrition. To say that a child is nutritionally stable or balanced, his height or weight should be appropriate for his age. The community people seem not too aware of the condition that their children are in, although some seemed to be bothered, but the group found it quite important to include it in the listed problems so as to be able to address and stabilize such condition through the participation and help of the parents.
Proposed Solution: Series of nutrition classes and lectures with return demonstrations.
4.
High
incidence of tuberculosis-related mortality and morbidity
In the advent of medical technology, prophylactic treatment and immunization, tuberculosis should have been a highly controllable disease. Moreover, it is a disease that is highly treatable.Unfortunately, knowledge deficit on treatment and isolation practices increase exposure of the afflicted with those who are TB free. Fortunately though, what was once considered a 'rich man's disease' have been conquered and drugs are given free at health centers.
Giving a hint to the residents that this disease may not be as benign as it seems (that is without treatment), due to them witnessing several deaths related to Tuberculosis, it prompted them to include this problem in their list. The team on the other hand, backed up with medical knowledge, sees that the death from disease is highly preventable and it is primarily this that they accepted the challenge to help the community in increasing their awareness of the disease.
It is a bit unfortunate though that a disease with similar manifestations as TB exists. Paragonomiasis - which is also rampant in the community will be discussed in the next problem.
Proposed Solution: Increasing of awareness and honing Health Team's skills on case detection and reporting.
5.
High incidence
of Parasitism
Home to some very aggressive parasites, Roxas has become a good study area for some UP Professor for the identification of some nematodes and filariaes. Capillariasis, Paragonomiasis and Filariasis are just some of the many parasites that infests the waters and food of the residents of Roxas.
Pangulogon of course is not an exemption to the case. According to the survey that the team conducted, several cases of Paragonomiasis either caused the disability or death of some Pangulogon residents in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, we cannot take the words of the residents as sole evidence to the cases since Paragonomiasis share similar manifestations as Tuberculosis.
Pangulogon of course is not an exemption to the case. According to the survey that the team conducted, several cases of Paragonomiasis either caused the disability or death of some Pangulogon residents in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, we cannot take the words of the residents as sole evidence to the cases since Paragonomiasis share similar manifestations as Tuberculosis.
Alarming though that residents (especially children) are seen bathing in the rivers which are proven to be infested with parasites. Most of the residents too (adults included) walk around barefooted in total disregard of the mode and transmission of the disease. Others also admit to have eaten fishes or crustaceans from the river, with a few eating them raw (what the call the Kinilaw)!
Methods to control incidence of the different types of parasitism is already running (such as the Operasyon Pampurga), but the team sees it essential that more steps should be undertaken to rouse the community's concern and increase their knowledge on the causes and effects of parasitism.
Proposed Solution: Increasing awareness through lectures; activities that address to lifestyle changes
6.
Poor
solid waste management
Waste management is one very common area of interest of medical students - as it is a problem consistently present in almost all communities. With the advent of global warming and ecological destruction, it is but imperative that we find ways on how to manage our waste and dispose of them properly. We are lucky though that the government has been very active on the promulgation of the Solid Waste Management Act, RA 9003, which aims on the
By using these
methods we felt confident enough that we came up with reliable prioritized
problems and finding interventions to these problems will, more or less, be
easier to do. These interventions will also allow the community people to be
self-reliant and organized, which is the primary purpose of this community
exposure.
It also came to my thought, why they won't build some kind of bridge. It shouldn't be too expensive if the villagers goes together to build it themselves? How much could it cost? Is there only one well in Pangulogon to fetch drinking water from? Is there some kind of public toilet or does every household has their own? By the way, did you guys got that e-mail I sent?
ReplyDeleteHi sir, good day. We're really sorry for the late reply to this comment. We weren't able to read it immediately. We got your e-mail and sent a reply already. Thank you so much... =)
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