Friday, May 9, 2014
After completion of
house-to-house survey, data collation, analysis and interpretation, Laom Luop group met and decided to utilize bottom-up
approach in the prioritization and ranking of the identified problem of the
community. This approach was carried out
by presenting the surveyed data to the community residents (bottom) allowing
them to identify and prioritize problems that are salient, measurable,
realistic and attainable, and this then later presented to the barangay officials (up) where they had
the final say as to which problems should be addressed according to salience
and feasibility. This method was employed to avoid hawthorne effect and
contamination of the problem selection process. Two separate assemblies were
conducted with the aim of bringing people together in order to come up with the top 10 problems of the community, rank them
according to salience, and craft a common vision for the progress and
development of the community. 
The first assembly was held on April 11, 2014 at Luop Multi-Purpose Covered Court. This was dubbed as “Community Meeting ug Salo-Salo” and attended by 120 residents. Activities conducted were registration, BP taking for adults, weighing of children 0-5 years of age, presentation of survey results, problem identification by purok, prioritization of perceived problems through ballot voting, and tallying of votes by the medical students. Intermission numbers from six (6) puroks were rendered and raffle draws and prizes were also given.
The program proper started at 1 pm and ended at 5 pm. Overall, the assembly was a success and the objectives were met. The second assembly was held on April 14, 2014 at the Barangay Hall and attended by the barangay officials. This was started by explaining the purpose of the assembly and followed by presentation of survey results, problem identification and prioritization.
The result of the problems identified by the community residents was also presented to them and compared with their identified problems, after which, they ranked which problems should be addressed first according to felt need and feasibility. At the end, 5 problems were specifically chosen and ranked and these are: Poor Access to Health Care Delivery System, Lack of Alternative Sources of Income, Improper Solid Waste Management, High Incidence of Malnutrition, and High Incidence of Hypertension. These problems will be the bases for the formulation of our Comprehensive Health Plans which we hope will be minimized or solved before we leave the place by 2016.
It is an arduous task considering the lack of time and resources
that we have but the group believes that with people’s active involvement and
commitment throughout the process, our goals will be met and sustainability
will be ensured. Both assemblies were successful and ended with a discussion on
next steps: "short, medium and long term strategies" collaboratively
decided upon by the assemblies’ participants.
