HOPE Centre staff are familiar faces
in Zandspruit, a large informal settlement outside of Johannesburg. Every month
the HOPE Centre team takes to the streets to give a helping hand in an area
where awareness for diabetes and hypertension is often low. Project HOPE screens,
educates and advises residents of the community on their status and the healthy
practices that can help prevent non-communicable diseases.
So for the HOPE centre, the activities
of ”World Hypertension Day” are a frequent occurrence. However, Saturday the
16th of May was extra cheerful and involved screenings as well as numerous volunteers from Monash University and the local community who drew attention
to the HOPE Centre staff’s activities and the burden of NCDs with a flash mob dancing
in the streets!
103 residents participated in the
screening for hypertension and diabetes on the ”World Hypertension Day” event
that was held on Saturday 16th of May in Zandspruit. Half of those who were
screened were referred to the HOPE Clinic for future check-ups due to the high
rate of undiagnosed hypertension that we often find in the community.
By offering free screening opportunities like this one,
Project HOPE is detecting NCDs early and getting people into appropriate
treatment when necessary to improve patients’ quality of life.
We
were supported by a wonderful team of 43 volunteers!
We are grateful for the help and support from the nurses of Empilweni Nursing College in Randburg
who helped us weigh and measure patients so we could check their BMI, prick
fingers to assess diabetes risk, take blood pressure, educate residents about
their results, and where necessary refer people to the HOPE Centre clinic. All participants
that came for the screening tests received education materials about the risks
of diabetes and hypertension and some fruit to promote a healthy diet. Some people also just came to chat or
to dance with the HOPE centre staff and volunteers!
We also want to thank the cheerful group of happy flash mob dancers from the Red Drop organisation at Monash University who provided some light-hearted fun on the day for everyone around!
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