RCE Greater Gombak[type]

Kembara Sihat - Health Visits to Empower Sustainable Life in Rural Communities
Basic Information
Title of project : 
Kembara Sihat - Health Visits to Empower Sustainable Life in Rural Communities
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Greater Gombak
Contributing organization(s) : 
Kembara Sihat 1.0:
-Malaysian Relief Agency (MRA), Pahang
-Department of Orang Asli Development (Jabatan Kebajikan Orang Asli -JAKOA), Pahang
-Malaysian Pharmacist Society (MPS) Pahang Area Committee
-District Health Office (Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah) Jerantut, Pahang
-Kuala Sat Primary School, Ulu Tembeling
-Majlis Ugama Islam dan Adat Resam Melayu Pahang (MUIP)
-Jabatan Agama Islam Pahang (JAIP)
-PERKIM Pahang
-IIUM Sejahtera Clinic
-Sultan Ahmad Shah Medical Centre (SASMEC) @ IIUM

Kembara Sihat 2.0:
-Dar-Al Hikmah Library, IIUM Kuantan
-Local Committee Members (JKKK) Kg Kuala Sat and Kg Bantal
-District Health Office (Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah) Jerantut, Pahang
-Malaysian Pharmacist Society (MPS), Pahang Area Committee
-IIUM SHAS Mosque Kuantan campus
Focal point(s) and affiliation(s)
Name: 
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norny Syafinaz Binti Ab Rahman
Organizational Affiliation: 
International Islamic University Malaysia
E-mail: 
norny@iium.edu.my
Name: 
Prof. Zainal Abidin Sanusi
Organizational Affiliation: 
International Islamic University Malaysia
E-mail: 
zainalsanusi@iium.edu.my
Format of project: 
Community Awareness & Engagement, Capacity Building, Experiential
Language of project: 
Malay and English
Date of submission:
Thursday, August 31, 2023
Web link: 
https://www.facebook.com/kulliyyahofpharmacy/
Additional resources: 
https://newsroom.iium.edu.my/.../kembara-sihat-uiam.../
https://rce2g.iium.edu.my/projects/
Does this project link to any education and/or sustainable development policy or policies?: 
No
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Asia-Pacific
Country: 
Malaysia
Location(s): 
Ulu Tembeling, Jerantut, Pahang
Address of focal point institution for project: 
International Islamic University Malaysia
Jalan Gombak, 53100
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Ecosystem(s):

rural
Target Audience:
Community, Higher, Youth (Informal)
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area : 
The four (4) villages (Kampung Kuala Sat, Kampung Bantal, Kampung Orang Asli Bengoi and Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Kucing) are located in Ulu Tembeling, Jerantut, Pahang, Malaysia. Kampung Kuala Sat is situated about 117 km from Jerantut town and 54 km from Kuala Tahan. Kampung Kuala Sat is now gaining popularity in the ecotourism industry. Hence, the source of income among some of the villagers here are mainly from eco-tourism. However, most of the villagers are still working as a rubber tapper and doing odd jobs. Most of the villagers received formal education only until primary school. Chronic diseases are quite prevalent in this community with most villagers possessing low to moderate levels of health literacy and medicines use.
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
From the two series of Kembara Sihat at villages in the Ulu Tembeling area, we identified several sustainability issues related to health, social, economy and environment. Although there are primary healthcare facilities (Klinik Kesihatan and Klinik Desa) in the villages, knowledge on health, diseases and rational use of medicines among the villagers were unsatisfactory. Living in a remote area with lack of access to health facilities also with low to moderate level of education, raises concerns on the importance of health literacy and rational use of medicines among the local communities. In order to properly manage their health and medicines, local communities need to be educated and empowered in managing their own health, disease and medicines. In addition, there are quite a number of school dropouts in the community, whereby most children obtained their formal education only until primary school. The attributing factors include the distance between the village to the secondary school that is quite far and transportation issues that hinder the kids to commute to and from school daily.
Contents
Status: 
Completed
Period: 
September, 2022
Rationale: 
Kembara Sihat (could be translated as Health Visit) was implemented in two series. Kembara Sihat 2.0 is a project that was implemented as part of a community project-based university required course, Usrah in Action 1 and 2. It is a continuation of the first project namely “Kembara Sihat: Menongkah Arus Membelah Belantara” (Health Visit: Venturing into Rural Community) which was conducted from 16-18 September 2022 at Ulu Tembeling. The main objective of the first programme was to educate the local community (Malays and Orang Asli) on health awareness and the rational use of medicines. Hence, this project is conducted with the aim to conduct follow up home visits to the patients that were involved in the first programme.
In Usrah in Action 1, the students managed to conduct a community profiling on 10th December 2022 located at Kg Kuala Sat, Ulu Tembeling. Through this visit, we identified several issues related to health, social, economy and environment and came out with a few solutions to be proposed accordingly. Subsequently in the next semester, the students revisit the villages and conduct some activities with the help from volunteers. The main activity being highlighted in the project is the home medication review programme which is categorised under health issues. As the name; “Kembara Sihat '' suggests, it is the primary purpose of this project to improve health status in this community by conducting home visits to review medications of patients with chronic diseases. In order to address the health literacy and education issues especially among the school dropouts, a mini library was set up in the community hall of the village and we also produced e-posters on medications use and health for knowledge dissemination among villagers.
Objectives: 
1. To conduct a home medication review programme as a solution for health issues identified during the previous programs.
2. To conduct health screenings for villagers and specific programs to children of Kg Kuala Sat.
3. To provide opportunities and exposure for students and IIUM staff to be involved in the community engagement program.

4. To strengthen the relationship between the university’s students, staff, collaborators, and the local community.
5. To achieve SDG3 goals (good health and well-being) and SDG10 goals (reduced inequalities).

6. To familiarise the students with responsibilities to society, as well as enhance their soft skills.
Activities and/or practices employed: 
1. Kembara Sihat 1.0:
The Kembara Sihat: Menongkah Arus Membelah Belantara was a community engagement project conducted under the Home Medication Review Chapter of the Sustainable Reimbursement Drug Policy (SRDP) Flagship in collaboration with ten government and non-government agencies. At that time, the programme was not integrated into any formal curriculum because it was aimed mainly to involve IIUM staff, students and collaborators as the programme committee and volunteers. Hence, the activities conducted include:
1) Health screening & exhibition 

2) Kenduri/rewang (community festival) with villagers 

3) Home medication review at 4 villages including Malay and Indigenous Villages 

4) Traditional sport 

5) Ziarah mahabbah 
(Charity Visit)
6) Mass anti lice shampoo application and deworming.
7) Religious Talk

2. Kembara Sihat 2.0:

The Kembara Sihat 2.0 project was a continuation of Kembara Sihat 1.0 that was offered as community project-based university required courses, Usrah in Action 1 and 2 that focused on community engagement and solving real community issues from sustainable development perspectives.
In order to address the identified sustainability issues, 4 events were carried out concurrently: -
1) Book donation and mini library setup 

2) Fun-edu activities with kids & teenagers 

3) Home medication review at Kg Kuala Sat 

4) Mini health screening
Size of academic audience: 
40
Results: 
In total, there were about 115 participants (committee/guests/volunteers) involved in the 2 days programme of Kembara Sihat 1.0. The participants included members from Kulliyyah (Faculty) of Pharmacy, IIUM and all collaborators. It was also estimated around 1050 villagers from the four villages participated in the whole programme. The impact of the first programme was successfully showcased in the subsequent Kembara Sihat 2.0. . For instance, some patients that we visited in the previous Kembara Sihat really looked forward to the follow up Home Medication Review visit by our team. The understanding on the use of medicines and storage among the patients is increased when tested during the follow up visit. On top of that, we also able to identify underdiagnosed cases ie. high blood pressure and pre-diabetes. Pamphlets and six e-posters on health and medications related that were prepared by the Usrah in Action students were distributed to villagers. Mini library was successfully set up and there were about 200 books donated to the mini library. In addition to that, the project had successfully exposed students from various faculties on the conduct of home medication review and health screening, increase social engagement with villagers and strengthened the relationship between IIUM staff, students, and external stakeholders such as local city council and District Health Office (MPS, PKD Jerantut) with the local communities
Lessons learned: 
1. Community engagement involving collaborators including both health and non-health related agencies served as the best holistic approach in addressing sustainability issues within specific communities.
2. Building rapport with the communities before implementing any community engagement activities is highly important. When the trust is there, it is easy to approach and get cooperation from the communities.
3. Community engagement serves as a good platform to strengthen relationships between universities, external stakeholders and the local community.
Key messages: 
The uniqueness of this project lies in the transdisciplinary approach of conducting the event where each collaborator from diverse backgrounds (health and non-health) contributed significantly to those people in need with the hope to improve their health and well-being which is in line with SDG number 3 United Nation. To ensure the sustainability of the project, we committed to a continuous programme with the community in the future. This collective effort is crucial in the era of convergence in order to give a bigger impact to the community.
Relationship to other RCE activities: 
-
Funding: 
Kembara Sihat :
1. Kembara Sihat 1.0:
The Kulliyyah of Pharmacy, IIUM has approved a budget amounting to RM5000.00 which uses the Kulliyyah of Pharmacy Trust Fund for organising this community engagement programme. Some collaborators provided contributions in a form of monetary and some provided in-kind. This programme also managed to get sponsorship from 6 companies that amounted a total of RM 11,900.00. On top of that, we also launched a donation drive in which we managed to get a total of RM 3605.00.
The MUIP, MRA and PERKIM contributed RM 5000 each. Meanwhile, MPS Pahang contributed RM3000. Contributions from MUIP, MRA and PERKIM were taken care of by MRA and expenses were mainly on food, donation items, medicines, medical devices and consumables.

2. Kembara Sihat 2.0:
The Kulliyyah of Pharmacy, IIUM has approved a budget amounting to RM3000.00 to organise this community engagement programme. Some collaborators provided contributions in a form of monetary and some provided donations of groceries. This programme managed to get sponsorship of RM700.00 from the Malaysian Pharmacist Society Pahang area and then a budget of commitment fees from volunteers that amounted to RM 1950.00. Hence, a total of RM 5650.00 was secured to conduct this programme.

Pictures:

File Name Caption for picture Photo Credit
Image icon image_6483441_4 - NORNY SYAFINAZ BINTI AB RAHMAN.JPG (591.29 KB) NORNY SYAFINAZ BINTI AB RAHMAN
Image icon PHOTO-2022-09-18-17-13-37 - NORNY SYAFINAZ BINTI AB RAHMAN.jpg (116.38 KB) NORNY SYAFINAZ BINTI AB RAHMAN
Image icon Visit_NORNY SYAFINAZ BINTI AB RAHMAN.jpeg (120.18 KB) NORNY SYAFINAZ BINTI AB RAHMAN
Image icon image_6483441_1 - NORNY SYAFINAZ BINTI AB RAHMAN.JPG (376.12 KB) NORNY SYAFINAZ BINTI AB RAHMAN
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages 
Direct
SDG 10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries 
Direct
SDG 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 
Indirect
Theme
Curriculum Development 
Direct
ESD for 2030-Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 1 - Advancing policy 
state: 
Indirect
Priority Action Area 2 - Transforming learning and training environments 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 3 - Developing capacities of educators and trainers 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 4 - Mobilizing youth 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 5 - Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level 
state: 
Direct
Update: 
No
I acknowledge the above: 
Yes