Background: Every year, nurse lecturers from the School of
Nursing and Public Health choose the day's events and graciously provide their
time to participate. The procedures included checking blood pressure, weighing,
and providing general health instructions on various subjects. In that
instance, the events were limited to university employees, a small number of
students enrolled remotely, and anyone who might happen to be on campus that
day.
Aim: is the present study aimed to take the service to the
community around Oshakati to sell their service and to raise awareness about
the reality of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity
under the theme: “High blood pressure”.
Method: The activities were carried out in April 2013. The
activities were carried out on street vendors at the Oshakati open market,
members of the media who captured the event as well as the community members
surrounding the Oshakati open market and community members from rural areas who
visited the open market on that specific day.
Results: The analysis of the findings was based on the users
of the services. Many people who used the services were found to have high
blood pressure up to 229/124mmHg, many of the women who sell “okapana” are
overweight and seem to have a lack of knowledge about balanced diet because
they could not understand why they are overweight compared to their Body Mass
Index (BMI). They prefer to keep their “fatness” because if they lose weight
they will be laughed at and said to have AIDS. Many people were found to have
high blood glucose levels (33.3mmol/L).
Conclusion: The results indicate the need for healthcare
providers to strengthen community services and outreach to improve the
knowledge and understanding of community members on the need for undergoing
regular screening. The interaction with community members was both a
professional and learning life experience. Community members showed eagerness
to know much about nursing and medical-related issues. Planning the health care
services should be done in collaboration with community members.
Author(s) Details:
Lusia N. Pinehas,
Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing and Public Health,
University of Namibia, Namibia.
N. N. Shifiona
Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing and Public Health,
University of Namibia, Namibia.
K. K. I. Shikongo
Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing and Public Health,
University of Namibia, Namibia.
Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/NVMMS-V6/article/view/14277
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