Fifth Update Hypertension

Background of the Problem

Water is a basic need and according to the United Nations access to it is also a human right. It is an essential part of daily life and in maintaining good health. Safe water is utilized by humans through sanitation, food production, and hydration. Unsafe drinking water can lead to so many serious health conditions and even death. Every year many people, most especially children, suffer from dehydration and electrolyte imbalances caused by diarrheal diseases. It might be an easily preventable problem, but still many people are seriously affected by this especially those living in poverty-stricken communities where water is considered a luxury. In these areas, water sources are usually communal or public and there is no purification method used for drinking water.

In Barangay Maras, there are a couple of different water sources used by the residents and most of them are communal and are not yet confirmed to be potable. The households situated near the highway get their drinking water from a dug wells with hand pump and a few would buy from the nearby water-refilling station. Some households are connected to the piped spring water system established by the Local Officials but the water is rationed and still limited. Along the highway, an average of 25-30 households share 1 water source. In the areas far from the main road, drinking water is taken from an open dug well or a protected spring. Purok Waling-Waling is the only purok that has no water source of its own and people would walk in distances even as far as 200 meters through dense grasslands and narrow roads on top of cliffs just to get water. In terms of water storage and purification, the residents utilize covered containers, which most of them clean regularly, but not all purify their drinking water.

Solution

To manage these problems, approaches must be focused on changing the negative practices of the community, mobilize the people, and utilize available resources to improve the situation of the water sources.

Sustainability

Community involvement is the best way to ascertain sustainability of the programs that will be implemented. All throughout the process, from the identification of the problem up to the evaluation of results, the people must be actively involved to instill the sense of ownership and cooperation in them. The local leaders must also be empowered so that they will be motivated to guide the people effectively and provide independent decisions in managing the projects.

hypertension update

JULY 2022 IMPLEMENTATION

We are now down to our last 10 weeks in the community. And as we come to a close, our focus now has shifted to the monitoring and evaluation of established programs on hypertension.

Intensifying health awareness and knowledge about Hypertension to target audiences ensues as the researchers, together with the BHWs conducted a weekly blood pressure monitoring on the enrolled hypertensive individuals in each purok stations. The core group is now being utilized as frontlines in the conduct of Blood Pressure monitoring and evaluation of the program. Likewise, they will facilitate and ensure that activities and programs are sustained. Since the academic year is about to end, a lecture-discussion was presided among the Senior High School students replacing the modular sessions on hypertension. To evaluate the learnings of the participants, a pretest and posttest were completed.

Furthermore, a Barangay Resolution formally recognizing the Maras Hypertension Health Club (MHHC) was approved by the Barangay Council and is subject for deliberation to ensure sustainability of health programs and activities for hypertension. The initiation of creating a physical environment conducive to a healthy lifestyle practice has been a success as local residents lead 90-minute Zumba work-out sessions thrice a week.

Monitoring and evaluation of the blood pressure results of the enrolled individuals were the main focus of this exposure. It was noted that there was a decrease in the number of individuals who fall under Prehypertension, Stage 1 and Stage 2 Hypertension and an increase in the number of individuals who falls under Normal blood pressure.

Finally, the Barangay Council recently procured anti-hypertensive medications for the Barangay Health Station. However, the supply of these medications still cannot suffice the demand of those who need it and about half of those diagnosed with hypertension are still not compliant. For this reason, the researchers are still on the works to involve other public and private agencies to ensure sustainable anti-hypertensive medication supply for the community.

July 2022 Accomplishments:

Update Hypertension Masterlist for July 2022
Sustenance of BP Monitoring at the BP Stations
Dispense of Anti-hypertensive medications based on priority
Supportive Physical Environments: Thrice a week Zumba Classes in the barangay covered court
Lecture-Discussion Integration on Aksyon Kontra Alta Presyon among Senior High School Students
Endorsement of a Barangay Resolution for Maras Hypertension Health Club

Upcoming Activities:

Procurement of Antihypertensive Medications
Monthly assessment of compliance to medication using Morisky Medication Adherence Scale
Mobilizing resources from Private sectors