Introduction
In Kerala diabetes has become a major health problem. All research studies on diabetes available suggest that the prevalence of diabetes is registering an alarming rise in Kerala. This increase during the past three decades is due to the drastic change that has come over to the lifestyle of the people like over eating, faulty foods, lack of exercise, sedentary behaviour, increased mental stress and increased alcohol and tobacco consumption.
A study on the burden of diabetes and its determinants was conducted by Medical Trust Hospital and Diabetes Care Centre, Kulanada in a rural village in central Kerala in 2007. The overall crude prevalence of diabetes was 14.6%. This is one of the highest reported from any Indian states. The prevalence of impaired fasting glycaemia was 5.1%. Hence one out of every five respondent (19.8%) was diabetic or pre diabetic.
Project kNOw Diabetes – Phase II ( WDF 12-717)
Multifaceted Campaign for Primary Prevention of Diabetes and Other Lifestyle Diseases
This project aims to empower the coming generation in primary prevention and control of diabetes and other lifestyle diseases.The proposed project will focus on developing a sustainable health education system consisting of multiple stakeholders in Kerala targeting diabetes and other lifestyle diseases. Several internet based programs and platforms will be consolidated for developing an effective online health education programme. The proposed kNOw Diabetes project- phase II envisages a fruitful and meaningful collaboration with World Diabetes Foundation and the NSS units in all the Higher Secondary schools in Kerala state.
The project comprises of four major components:
This project aims to empower the coming generation in primary prevention and control of diabetes and other lifestyle diseases.The proposed project will focus on developing a sustainable health education system consisting of multiple stakeholders in Kerala targeting diabetes and other lifestyle diseases. Several internet based programs and platforms will be consolidated for developing an effective online health education programme. The proposed kNOw Diabetes project- phase II envisages a fruitful and meaningful collaboration with World Diabetes Foundation and the NSS units in all the Higher Secondary schools in Kerala state.
A health education system will be established in collaboration with National Service Scheme, Department of Higher Secondary Education, Kerala, Local self government authorities and various voluntary organisations. As part of the activities 400 schools will be selected as distance centres of health education. About 800 teachers and leaders of voluntary groups are expected to attend the training camps. The teachers trained will select a minimum of 100 student volunteers to receive awareness classes about pr imary prevention and effective use of internet programs and social media platforms. The student volunteers will be entrusted with the task of educating at least 5 fellow students and a minimum of 10 adults in their neighbourhoods. Nodal Centres will be established to co-ordinate the activities conducted in the distance education centres.
A campaign with multimedia exhibitions, television programs, print and visual media will be carried out. The exhibition is designed to provide information regarding diabetes and other lifestyle diseases for prevention, control and lifestyle modification.
As IT hubs are growing rapidly in Kerala, there is an increasing necessity to focus on IT professionals. Many of them lead a sedentary life and are chronically subjected to stress, which can considerably increase the odds of developing obesity, cardio vascular diseases and diabetes. Online education will hence be available to about 10,000 IT professionals with the aim of promoting healthy lifestyle habits.
OBJECTIVES
To impart three-day training on prevention, detection and management of diabetes and other lifestyle diseases to selected teachers who coordinate student volunteer groups in schools/colleges in Kerala state.
To empower student volunteers in selected education institutions to disseminate knowledge in the community about prevention, detection and management of diabetes and other lifestyle diseases.
To establish distance health education centres in selected schools/colleges.
To develop an effective online health education system using internet based platforms like websites, blogs, e-journals, youtube, Face book and other popular social media sites.
To motivate trained student volunteers to educate a specific number of students in their institutions and adults in the neighbourhoods about primary prevention, detection and management of diabetes and other lifestyle diseases.
To establish Nodal centres in all the 14 districts in Kerala for coordinating the activities of the distance education centres.
To develop necessary education materials like CDS, DVDs , books, pamphlets and net based social media programmes.
To organise kNOw Diabetes Multimedia Exhibitions in all 14 districts in Kerala and to conduct screening camps at the venues for the detection of blood sugar and cholesterol levels, BP&BMI.
To sensitise IT professionals about the harms of faulty lifestyle and to motivate them to undergo lifestyle modification for the prevention, and management of diabetes and other lifestyle diseases.
To organise state level campaign with the help of print and visual media on prevention, detection and management of diabetes and other lifestyle diseases.
kNOw Diabetes – Phase 1:
Primary Prevention of Diabetes and Other Lifestyle Diseases through Targeted Approach.
Medical Trust Hospital and Diabetes Care Centre with the support of World Diabetes Foundation implemented a health education and intervention project titled kNOw Diabetes which aimed at the primary prevention of diabetes and other lifestyle diseases through targeted approach . The project which was implemented in the districts of Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha in Kerala during 2008- 2013 in association with the two district panchayaths received enthusiastic support from the people, local self governments and the health and education departments .
The project began with training about 30 volunteers including health workers ,nurses and doctors on diabetes education and management. These volunteers then trained teachers and health workers to ensure the sustainability of the project until children in all the secondary and higher secondary schools in Pathanmthitta and Alappuzha districts were educated on the prevention of diabetes and other lifestyle diseases. During the five years of implementation of the project, health promotion has been conducted in about 900 public schools. More than 2,00,000 students have participated in one-day awareness classes and medical camps and their anthropometric measurements have been recorded. Their parents and more than 10,000 teachers have attended awareness classes and medical camps and the majority had their blood sugar and cholesterol levels assessed. About 1,500 teachers and 184 volunteers have been trained in diabetes prevention, detection and management. A total of about 4,00,000 people have been reached through awareness and screening. The project succeeded in motivating many local self government units to design and implement similar projects targeting diabetes and other lifestyle diseases. The Pathanamthitta district panchayath implemented a comprehensive free treatment scheme for children with Type-1 diabetes in association with the kNOw Diabetes project. During the project implementation period kNOw Diabetes Multimedia Exhibitions were conducted in various towns and Global Diabetes Walks were organised in the two districts which attracted the enthusiastic participation of students, parents, teachers and health workers.
During the implementation of the project in Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts, the NSS units in the schools of the two districts co-operated enthusiastically and played a very significant role in the success of the project. NSS volunteers actively participated in all the Global diabetes Walks organised by the project on November 14th, to mark the World Diabetes Day every year.
While organizing the Pathanamthitta – Alappuzha Diabetes Walk 2011 members of the NSS units volunteered to lead the walk which started from Adoor and concluded in Alappuzha connecting 14 towns on the way. NSS volunteers in batches of 14 led the walk on all the 14 days from 1st to 14th November 2011 . The Pathanamthitta –Alappuzha walk 2011 won the first GDW Social Media Award 2011 instituted by WDF. As a token of appreciation towards the role of the NSS volunteers in making the walk a grand success, the award amount was used to implement a diabetes awareness project in the 48 Higher Secondary Schools in Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts during 2012-13. The campaign which started on 2nd October 2012 culminated with Diabetes awareness walks organised in all the 48 schools on World Diabetes Day, 14th November 2012.