BACKGROUND: Intra-regional cultural and linguistic differences are common in low- and middle-income countries. To sensitise undergraduate medical students to the social and contextual determinants of health to achieve the 'health for all' goal, these countries must focus on innovative teaching methods. The early introduction of a Community Orientation Program (COP) as a Community-based Medical Education (CBME) method could be a game changing strategy. In this paper the methods, evaluation, and implication of the COP in an Indian setting are described. METHODS: The curriculum of the COP was developed based on the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE) model for educational intervention. In this learner-centric and supervised educational program, the key aim was to focus on developing students' communication skills, observation power and enhancing their motivation for learning through collaborative learning. To meet the objectives of the COP, a situated learning model under the constructivism theory was adopted. RESULTS: Between 2016 and 2019, 557 students were trained through the COP by visiting more than 1300 households in ten villages. To supplement the students' observations in the community, more than 150 small group discussions, a health education programme for the community and summary presentations were conducted. The students' feedback indicated the need to improve the clinical examinations demonstration quality and increase the number of instruments for clinical examinations. More than 80% of students felt that the program would assist them to improve their communication skills, their understanding of the various socio-demographic factors associated with the common diseases, and it will enable them to respect the local culture during their clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: Early initiation of the COP as a CBME method in the undergraduate medical curriculum in an Indian setting has shown promising results. Further evidence is required to adopt such a program routinely for under-graduate medical teaching in the low- and middle- income settings.
Education, Medical, Undergraduate , Education, Medical , Students, Medical , Curriculum , Health Education , Humans , Motivation
BACKGROUND: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a well-known microvascular complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus attributed to chronic hyperglycemia and is defined as the presence of peripheral nerve dysfunction after exclusion of other causes. METHODOLOGY: This was a multicentric facility-based cross-sectional study with the objectives to assess the sociodemographic and economic status of the participants, to estimate the prevalence of the DPN using the screening methods, and to see the association with other factors. A predesigned semi-structured questionnaire, Semmes-Weinstein 10-g monofilament test, ankle reflexes, and vibration perception threshold test was used for the data collection and blood sugars levels were taken from the recent laboratory report. RESULTS: Among 336, 202 (60.1%) were male and 134 (39.9%) were female. The prevalence of the DPN was 39.3% among them 28.9% in males and 10.4% in females, respectively. The other determinants of the participants, 264 (78.6%) had the Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) >7, 205 (61%) had a burning foot sensation, 124 (36.9%) of them were had numbness of the foot, almost 50% of them had pricking sensation in the foot and more than one-third (130) of them had callosity over foot. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed the severity of DPN was significantly associated with age, sex, duration of diabetes, HbA1c value, hypertension, and body mass index.
BACKGROUND: Mental health problems such as cognitive impairment, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders arising out of senility, neurosis, and living conditions are common in the geriatric population. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of mental illness and to describe their sociodemographic factors in the rural geriatric population and see their association with other factors. METHODOLOGY: A community-based cross-sectional study was done on individuals aged more than 60 years. The study instruments were predesigned semi-structured questionnaire, Folstein's Mini-Mental Status Examination Scale for assessing dementia in cognitive functioning and Yesavages Geriatric Depression Scale to estimate the prevalence of depression and to assess the activities of the daily living by Barthel index and the anxiety were assessed based on the perception of the participants while conducting the interview. RESULTS: A total of 415 individuals participated, out of them 199 (47.9%) were males and 216 (52.1%) were females. Prevalence of mental illness was 217 (52.2%) with one or the other type of mental illness. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 47.7% and depression according to Geriatric Depression Scale >5 was 27.7%. The remaining 62 (14.9%) had dementia and 30 (7.2%) had anxiety disorder as the mental illness. The socio-demographic factors such as age more than 70 years, female gender, illiterates, living in joint family, middle and lower socio-economic class, financially totally dependent and had poor and unfair relationship with the family members were strongly associated with the mental illness and it was statistically significant with P < 0.05. CONCLUSION: Measures should be taken to support the elders, establish community elderly societies, advisory offices, and services to help the elderly. The sequence of social interventions required for the management of the elderly psychological problems.
