Students and staff of the Faculties of Community and Health Sciences and Law received a resounding warm welcome and excitement from the Lanquedoc community as people came in numbers for their health and wellness screening. This is a start of many sustainable partnerships and collaborations for the foreseeable future.
The Health and Wellness Community Day included health screenings, wellness talks, therapeutic services, mental, social and legal counseling services to the young and old people of the Dwars River Valley. The services delivered included maternal care, cholesterol and blood pressure screening, sugar testing, HIV testing and TB screening, pap smear as well acupuncture and herbal medicine treatment.
In addition, those with serious conditions were referred to appropriate professionals and nearby clinics and there was support of EMS Mobile Vaxi Taxi. 500 patients were attended to over the two days and students also conducted services at the early childhood development centres, primary and high schools.
“What an experience at my age of 75, what an Unbelievably Fantastic Health programme. Western Cape University did a very good job of their massive task they undertook. It was outstandingly fantastic. University of the Western Cape has history come and made it to our Dwars-Rivier Valley. Thank you very much, once again it was a fantastic experience for many of our people, and yes, we look forward to the next project. We will also remain ready to offer our little help and assistance to present where necessary. The community of Kylemore wishes you success and prosperity with all your future plans and also especially in the differences you make in the lives of the oblivion,” said Eva Williams.
Community engagement and social responsiveness is a fundamental pillar of health sciences education at UWC and the university has shown and demonstrated that it is committed to go an extra mile in serving the communities in Cape Town and surrounding areas. This drive and commitment will continue to grow each year, thereby impacting communities and making health services accessible to the most vulnerable and marginalised.
“We have partnered with the Dwars River Valley Trust and one of the goals of the partnership is to focus on health and wellness in the area. So we brought 64 students and 31 staff to deliver services in the area over two days. This service-learning approach has not only benefited the communities with the much needed services but has also enhanced our students’ experience and learning of community health and the factors that influence their wellbeing. The response from the community was phenomenal indicating that there is such a great need for the services that were on offer.
The programme was supported by the Western Cape Department of Health who provided us with some equipment, many patients were referred to the local community health centre for follow up,” said Prof Firdouza Waggie.
In the past two days students and clinical supervisor treated a variety of ailments. According to Dr Jackie Wang from School of Natural Medicine, they treated people with lower, neck, shoulder and cold knees caused by blood circulation problems or injuries. In some instances, there were cases of headaches, stress and anxiety as well as hypertension and prevalence of stroke. Ms Mbalenhle Goba, the School of Nursing Clinical supervisors said their students also dealt with high blood pressure, diabetes and eye cataract.
The outreach services are pioneered by the team in Interprofessional Education Unit (IPEU) under the leadership of the CHS Deputy Dean for Clinical and Community Engagement, Prof Firdouza Waggie and in collaboration with CHS staff, students and academics as well as Faculty of Law. The Faculty of Community and Health Sciences at UWC has been working in various communities for an extensive period of time, placing health sciences students at various community organisations and institutions to deliver health and social care programmes that benefit the community members and university students. CHS next outreach will be in Genadendal on 13 and 14 April 2023.
Watch video snippets from the outreach here:
DWARS RIVER WELLNESS DAY
