Socially responsible students and improved health for community-the benefits of service-learning in Pakistan

Background: In developing countries, marginalized groups of the society suffer due to inadequate health workforce, physical inaccessibility to health-care facilities and nonavailability of appropriate services. Service-learning, which combines community service with structured preparation and reflec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Education for health (Abingdon, England) England), 2020-05, Vol.33 (2), p.61-65
Main Author: Rukhsana, Ayub
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anemia
Anemia, Iron-Deficiency - diagnosis
Anemia, Iron-Deficiency - prevention & control
Campaigns
Child
Children
Clinical outcomes
College Students
Community Relations
Community service
Developing countries
Electives
Female
Females
Focus Groups
Group Discussion
Health Education - methods
Health status
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobins
Hemoglobins - analysis
High School Students
Humans
Instructional materials
Intervention
Iron deficiency
LDCs
Male
Medical screening
Medical students
Mothers
Pakistan
Point of care testing
Problem-Based Learning - methods
Public health
Public Health - methods
Secondary schools
Service learning
Social Responsibility
Students
Students, Medical
Study and teaching
Teaching
Tetanus toxoid
Women
Workforce
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Summary:Background: In developing countries, marginalized groups of the society suffer due to inadequate health workforce, physical inaccessibility to health-care facilities and nonavailability of appropriate services. Service-learning, which combines community service with structured preparation and reflection exercises, may be used to reach such communities. Service learning electives aimed at teaching students their required coursework as well as the importance of commitment to the community, were developed. Activities: In four different projects, college students developed and delivered an educational campaign to community members. Knowledge of participants was tested pre- and post-intervention. For two projects, on-site hemoglobin (Hb) testing was provided through point of care testing before and at 8 weeks' post-intervention. Women and children were given immediate treatment. Focus group discussion was carried out for students and participants. Outcomes: Significant improvement was seen in the sense of social responsibility of students and knowledge of community members about iron deficiency anemia in all the four campaigns. In one of the studies, the initial point-of-care testing (POCT) screening for Hb found that 52.9% of women and 46.9% of children were anemic (Hb
ISSN:1357-6283
1469-5804
DOI:10.4103/efh.EfH_182_20