Sumile Earl Francis Rualo, Delos Santos Jan Vincent T, Hernandez Mary Abigail A, Tomanan Kristine Joy L, Parial Laurence Lloyd B
College of Nursing, University of the Philippines Manila.
Acta Med Philipp. 2024 Jul 15;58(12):93-102. doi: 10.47895/amp.v58i12.9472. eCollection 2024.
Nurses have a pivotal role in nurturing the capabilities of individuals, families, and population groups for better health. However, underserved communities in the Philippines, such as those with socioeconomic inadequacies, geographic isolation, and service access problems, have significant limitations in attaining the highest possible level of health. Hence, a community extension service (Project "Lusog-Linang"), employing community-engaged research, was launched with the residents of an underserved locality in Central Luzon. The current paper aimed to describe the engagement of the community residents in describing their current health situation and related priority problems, as well as explore appropriate initiatives to manage the identified problems.
Community-engaged research was utilized to enable the residents of Barangay San Vicente, Bamban, Tarlac to participate in health capacity building. Particularly, records review and focus group discussions were conducted to assess the community's health needs and to identify the residents' perceived problems. The findings were presented in a community assembly, where residents further discussed their priority health concerns and potential interventions to address them. Quantitative data were summarized through descriptive statistics, while qualitative information was synthesized via content analysis.
The priority community health problems included healthcare inaccessibility (trained staff, health equipment, and facility access), food insecurity, water supply limitations, and environmental sanitation. Moreover, there was inadequate knowledge and skills among the residents in health promotion, disease prevention, and illness management. While Barangay San Vicente had limited socioeconomic resources to optimize their health capacities, the sense of community among the residents is a vital resource towards empowering them to improve their health.
The results could be utilized as a launching pad for developing appropriate health programs for the residents of Barangay San Vicente. Hence, the next steps in Project "Lusog-Linang" should include the identification and training of core group members toward community mobilization, and further exploring collaborative and sustainable partnerships across organizations to ensure that the community will have long-term solutions to their problems. Consequently, this project could guide public health workers in ensuring the active involvement and participation of the community members in managing their own health.
护士在培养个人、家庭及人群的健康能力方面发挥着关键作用。然而，菲律宾的一些服务欠缺社区，比如那些存在社会经济条件不足、地理隔离以及服务获取问题的社区，在实现尽可能高的健康水平方面存在重大限制。因此，一项采用社区参与式研究的社区推广服务（“健康成长”项目）在吕宋岛中部一个服务欠缺地区与当地居民共同开展。本文旨在描述社区居民参与描述其当前健康状况及相关优先问题的情况，并探索解决已确定问题的适当举措。
采用社区参与式研究，使打拉省班班市圣维森特村的居民参与健康能力建设。具体而言，进行了记录审查和焦点小组讨论，以评估社区的健康需求并确定居民意识到的问题。研究结果在社区大会上公布，居民们进一步讨论了他们优先关注的健康问题以及解决这些问题的潜在干预措施。定量数据通过描述性统计进行汇总，而定性信息则通过内容分析进行综合。
社区优先的健康问题包括难以获得医疗服务（缺乏专业医护人员、医疗设备以及就医不便）、粮食不安全、供水受限和环境卫生问题。此外，居民在健康促进、疾病预防和疾病管理方面的知识和技能不足。虽然圣维森特村优化其健康能力的社会经济资源有限，但居民之间的社区意识是增强他们改善健康能力的重要资源。
研究结果可作为为圣维森特村居民制定适当健康项目的起点。因此，“健康成长”项目的下一步应包括识别和培训核心小组成员以推动社区动员，并进一步探索跨组织的合作与可持续伙伴关系，以确保社区能够长期解决其问题。因此，该项目可为公共卫生工作者提供指导，以确保社区成员积极参与管理自身健康。
