PURPOSE
In order to cater to the health needs of the country, health systems delivery was devolved to local government units in 1991. However, as of 2009, almost all regions in the country remain to have insufficient hospital beds relative to the population. This indicates a great need to improve health service availability. In addition, as of April 2020, while there was a record of 10 doctors per 10,000 population in the National Capital Region, there were only 2.3 doctors per 10,000 population in Zamboanga Peninsula.
Despite efforts to put the appeal from the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration in fulfillment which is “Health in the Hands of the People by 2020” and its resurgence through the Universal Health Coverage, there are still communities who are far from reaching the adequate indices when it comes to healthcare delivery. Poverty has been a problem that many consider when talking about health. The government has been doing its best to provide health care services to the country’s periphery, but of course, the process of providing adequate healthcare services and delivery for every Filipino does not happen in a year or so. And in this developing period, hundreds to thousands of Filipinos from rural areas get sick or die without receiving this promise of adequate health care.
The Ateneo de Zamboanga University School of Medicine helps cater to the medical needs in the region by providing community-oriented medical training and healthcare services. Aspiring physicians are taught to look into and beyond the biomedical aspect of disease, and consider also its psycho-socio-economical components. This is achieved through creating an awareness of healthcare in the community setting, and is highlighted in actual community immersions. These community immersions highlight on providing healthcare to the rural communities and at the same time giving the medical students an experience to learn how culture affects the healthcare seeking behavior of people in the community. This aspect is usually not emphasized in hospital settings making some patients misunderstood by physicians with lack of experience in community medicine.
General Objective
To mobilize and improve the health care system of Barangay San Jose in order to address community health issues by promoting community collaboration, among residents and its stakeholders, emphasizing health promotion through innovative, and sustainable interventions that fit to the profile and needs of the community.
Specific objective
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Establish rapport with the residents of Barangay San Jose and get to know their ways and practices as a community and how it affects their health seeking behaviors;
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Gather data to identify the demographic, economic, and health profile of the community;
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Identify the different community health problems through house to house surveys and community assembly utilizing a comprehensive community assessment form;
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Prioritize the identified community health problems together with the community people through a general community assembly and the Maglaya rating scale;
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Formulate sustainable community health plans that would address the identified community health problems and would also take into consideration the resources and the capability of the residents to keep the plans sustainable;
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Develop strategies that deal with the identified community health problems and are sustainable and accessible to the residents;
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Collaborate with the community residents, barangay council, local government and other stakeholders in the implementation and sustainability of the formulated community health plans;
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Document and evaluate the implementation of the community health plans.
SIGNIFICANCE
The medical students deployed in Barangay San Jose aimed to help mobilize the community’s resources and manpower and improve the way they view health not just as mere absence of disease, but also as their whole wellbeing. The community health plan is intended to improve the wellbeing of the residents of Barangay San Jose through a variety of interventions that would help enhance their health care system. These interventions may involve different approaches to address the community health problems identified and prioritized with the community and it can only be achieved through collaboration with the barangay, its leaders and its stakeholders. In this manner, the team is not just the one acting for a better Barangay San Jose, but will only serve as enablers to help the community become more empowered and resilient when it comes to their health.
This community health plan is a rundown of the journey of Barangay San Jose with the medical students. This will contain the barangay’s data and how the partnership between the community and the students came into fulfillment through different community health projects that address the following health problems namely (1) high number of drug surrenderers, (2) poor responsible pet ownership, (3) high incidence of tuberculosis, (4) improper solid waste management and lastly, (5) high prevalence of hypertension. The data and the results obtained from the implementation of the community health plan will help improve the development of future health plans.
SCOPE AND LIMITATION
This community health plan is focused to address the identified and prioritized health problems of the barangay. These interventions were applied to both the general and specific population groups of Barangay San Jose. There were some interventions that also included some other barangays of the municipality. Through the collaboration of the team with the barangay, the local government and some private sectors, the implementation of the most community health projects were achieved.
However, the implementation of the remaining projects were cut short on its last four month including the disengagement with the community and other remaining activities. This happened when the announcement of the Enhanced Community Quarantine was posted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The ECQ made a limit to all activities in the community making it more difficult to continue the remaining projects of the team.