While many University students spent the summer break toiling away in an internship — often unpaid — one group of students and faculty members spent their summer nearly thousands of miles away helping to improve the health care system of two communities in South Africa.
A group of medical, nursing and public policy students and faculty members worked to educate home-based caregivers of two clinics in Thohoyandou and Tiyani, South Africa on different methods of treating prevalent chronic disease such as diabetes and high blood pressure. In areas like Thohoyandou and Tiyani, home-based givers are the link between clinics, hospitals and patients that ensure the patients’ health.
“The opportunity to have this experience and contribute something and work with med students was really something special,” said Meg Wightman, a graduate Nursing student and clinical leader of the project.
The caregivers were well trained in helping patients with HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis-related health issues, but had encountered problems associated with diabetes and high blood pressure.
By partnering with the students and faculty from the University of Venda, the U.Va. delegation was able to educate caregivers about the symptoms to look for in potential diabetics, such as increased and frequent urination or thirst. The teams also used visual presentations to demonstrate the effects of high blood pressure on the body’s circulatory system and provide examples of healthy diets.
By the end of their time in South Africa, the group had successfully educated and trained 60 home-based caregivers to diagnose high-blood pressure and diabetes. In turn, the South African caregivers taught the University delegation a few valuable lessons as well.
“The relationship between the patients and caregivers was something incredible and something we here in the U.S. can learn from,” Assoc. Nursing Prof. Cathy Campbell said.
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