Kidshelp – Elsevier Diabetes Management Project
As Kidshelp, we are always proud of the scholarship sponsorships we secure for our students to study at universities in Phnom Penh, but that studying has its limitations. There are many soft skills that students across the world, are seldomly taught in universities.
A chance meeting in late 2022, brought Kidshelp together with Elsevier, the world leading information and analytics company supporting researchers and healthcare professionals with advancing science and patient care.
Elsevier were excited and their Customer Success Manager, Natasha Gulati took the opportunity during a vacation trip to Phnom Penh in December 2022, to meet two of our Kidshelp students. From that moment on, there was no doubt, Elsevier and Kidshelp would work together and form a great partnership. Next step was to decide on a medical topic that our students might want to study and develop into a program that could be implemented to benefit the community of our village.
We formed a project team who chose Type 2 Diabetes as a topic to study. Students were given access to the Elsevier’ ClinicalKey Physician and started weekly classes every Friday evening at 9:00pm. Over 4 months the students learned about diabetes, putting together weekly presentations for the Elsevier tutors in Netherlands and Malaysia.
By end November the students’ study was completed. The project team were tasked with putting together a project plan, with tasks assigned to each project member. The project team included medical, pharmacology, bioengineering, communications, business administration and finance studies students. The team members had never been challenged with any practical exercises like putting together a detailed project plan, creating communications materials, recruiting patients, organising patient screening clinics or analysing results. Every next step was a new learning experience.
Next was to assemble the knowledge gained into a structured booklet appropriate to communicate with people in our countryside village to help them manage their diabetes. The booklet was simplified, all photos and graphics were updated to show people that looked like people in Cambodia. The booklet was then translated into Khmer and contextualized, based on local lifestyle and eating habits.
In parallel, the project team was set the challenge of recruiting 100 patients living within 5km of Khemara Kidshelp School, to attend one of two screening clinics in January 2024. A recruitment poster was created, and all scholarship students were asked to support the project. Every patient recruited was contacted and reminded that they should attend the screening at 7:00am without having had breakfast before coming. There was suddenly a degree of confidence – 91 patients had been called and confirmed they would attend the first screening on Saturday, 13th January, but as always, it was anticipated around 10% of patients would not attend on the day.
The team including visitors from Germany, England and Singapore and Natasha Gulati from Elsevier offices in Malaysia, set out from Phnom Penh at 5:00am on Saturday morning. By 6:15am the banner had been hung in front of the school, desks were organised to provide seating for patients while waiting to register, have fasting blood sugar and blood pressure recorded, check weight and height, and have eyes checked. All this before being served a tasty breakfast of rice and chicken, soup and water. All went well until it was realised that rather than the expected 80 patients, 133 patients had registered!! A quick call to the local restaurant and 55 more breakfasts were delivered.
As groups of patients finished their breakfast, they took their places in the classrooms and each one of the 6-project team took their turn to explain the contents of the booklet, how to manage diabetes through lifestyle changes, diet, exercise, and daily medication as prescribed by their doctors. At the end of each class, the presenter shared a selection of foods, fruits and drinks and patients had the opportunity to call out “good” or “bad”. By 10:30am all 133 patients had been registered, tested, enjoyed breakfast, and attended the short training session. By 11:30am there was no trace that anything had occurred at KKS.
One week later, on Saturday, 20th January, it happened all over again. This time four students from outside of the project group volunteered to help as most visitors had returned to Germany. Only a small group of new patients were expected, with a small group of around 35 patients from the first screening also invited for a re-screening just to make sure we had recorded their sugar levels correctly the previous time. But it is Cambodia, and word got out. 60 new patients and 22 second screening patients were registered by 8:00am. Once again by 11:00am there was no trace that anything had ever happened, and the project team were off for a well-deserved lunch in the local restaurant that had prepared over 215 breakfasts for our patients over the 2 screenings.
Patient data has now been analysed and will be published after review. A pilot group of patients will be monitored over the next six months to measure how with changes in lifestyle, diet, exercise and regular medication, type 2 diabetes can be managed. In parallel there will be monthly Awareness Days, where the project team will hold monthly diabetes awareness sessions co-ordinated together with Puthisastra University Medical School and the Office of the Secretary of State of Cambodia, responsible for Kandal Province.
Thanks, and congratulations to the core project team, Livuoch Nov, Sreyoun Chhan, SreySor Chay, Sothea Eng, Rina Ra and Daly Vin, also to Sonita Chhorn and Sy Ing Hong who assisted during the research phase. To quote Natasha “This is a phenomenal team that has exceeded our expectations in intelligence, diligence and creativity while executing this project.”
Over the next six months the challenge is set. It is to verify whether type 2 diabetes can be managed through lifestyle changes, diet, exercise, and daily medication as prescribed by your doctor or not.
Material Produced by the students as part of the project
- Diabetes management brochure (English)
- Diabetes management brochure (localised and translated into Khmer)
- Medical history form
- Poster to promote sessions and recruit patients
Photographs from the Screening clinics
