Are you in the process of planning a medical outreach and need ideas on topics for your health talk? Worry no more as this post will give you ideas on things to talk about with your audience for maximum impact.
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Introduction
During a medical outreach, one of the components you simply cannot overlook is the part of giving a health talk to the people that have gathered to benefit from this program.
Health education is a vital part of your medical outreach.
Do you know you can find out about how to get your flyers for your medical outreach ready? Read it here.
Medical outreaches are mainly free health campaigns that are carried out in specific communities or areas or targeting specific groups of people. The size or scope of these outreaches depend on the budgets or the financial muscle of the individuals or groups that are backing up the medical outreach.
Why Is Health Talk Needed at our Medical Outreaches?
A successful medical outreach does not just begin and end with provision of free drugs to sick members of the target group. It also entails influencing people’s attitudes and lifestyle positively in order to improve on their health. This is achieved during the medical outreach by including a health talk
Who Gives The Health Talk During The Medical Outreach?
There are a lot of topics you can possibly talk about during a free medical outreach.
It is advisable that the most knowledgeable or the most proficient person in that area can give the health talk.
Let’s give an example with diet. If you are to give a health talk about diets or things related to diet to a group of people during a health outreach, it is advisable to have a Dietitian or Nutritionist make that presentation.
This is because they should be able to take questions after the health talk; most times people will have questions at the end of the health talk—“how should I prepare this…” “what quantity of that should I add when cooking…” and so on.
It’s always easier for somebody in that field to be able to answer that.
When it comes to blood pressure and heart related issues, a Cardiologist would be the best to talk about this. He has been in the field and he has practical knowledge. So when people start asking questions in that regard, Cardiologists will easily be able to attend to their concerns.
Another example is when it comes to mental health issues. To give a health talk about mental health issues, it is best to have a mental health professional such as a mental health Physician or Psychiatrist, Clinical Psychologist and so on.
When people have questions during the health talk, you had better have some expert present to give them the most accurate answer possible.
How Is This Health Talk Actually Given?
#1- Talk/Lecture
Somebody comes up and begins to explain things about that area of health to the people. You explain, allow them to ask questions and then get feedback.
Give examples, illustrations, diagrams if need be; things that will create an impression, creating a lasting picture in the minds of people.
These create a lasting impression of the topic you are talking about during the medical outreach in the minds of your listeners.
You can have a board to sketch things or even draw something that will help people understand the topic better.
You can also project pictures and other illustrations with the help of a projector
#2-Demonstrations
These are practical sessions.
For instance, you are teaching them about food. You can actually have practical sessions on food demonstrations. You can have practical session demonstration of handwashing as well.
You can also organize a drama or set up a short playlet in order to pass across the intended message of the health talk.
You get some of your crew to act a short play. This short drama tries to depict the message you want to pass across to your medical outreach targets or beneficiaries
What Determines the Topic(s) You’re Going To Take During The Health Talk?
The topics you are going to handle during your free medical outreach depends on these:
The demographics of the place:
Is it rural or urban area, for instance? What is the area like? What are their challenges?
For example, if you get to a mosquito-infested community, you already have an idea on what to talk about.
Topics to handle in USA, for instance, may not be exactly the same with topics to be handled in a rural community in Nigeria.
What is your target group of people?
Topics you will take in a predominantly young population will not be the same if the group were made up of mostly old people (Geriatrics). Same as children versus adults
LIST OF TOPICS FOR HEALTH TALK DURING MEDICAL OUTREACH
Now, let’s get down to the list of health-related topics you can handle during a free medical outreach. We are using Nigeria now as a case study.
#1-Malaria
Malaria is one of the problematic health issues in Nigeria. We cannot talk about it enough.
In the year 2020, 627,000 people died from malaria worldwide. Guess what? Africa accounted for 96% of this figure. So, you see there’s still a problem in this area.
So during the medical outreach health talk, you can discuss malaria, talk about things surrounding it, give people the practical tips to take in order to avoid always suffering from this sickness.
You have to teach them things about the environment, how to take care of it, how to make use of their mosquito nets, to take a lot of things serious which they that they were probably taking for granted before now.
#2-Environmental Sanitation
33% of Nigerians have access to sanitation.
One of the targets of the SDG 6 (Sustainable Development Goals) is to, by 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all.
Most of our communities, roads and gutters are littered with dirts. People dump their refuse indiscriminately. People reside close to very filthy environments. They even defecate in bushes and in the open.
During the rains, the gutters the gutters do not work because of so much rubbish already dumped into them.
This contributes to flooding and erosion and also makes the environment a mess and unsightly. The people living in these areas are at risk of so many diseases.
During the health talk, we can actually educate the people on the need to clean up their environment and also to avoid indiscriminate dumping of waste.
You also let them know what they stand to benefit by having a good and clean environment.
Motivate them to make commitments to keeping their environment clean.
#3-Gastroenteritis
This affects mostly small children and toddlers especially at the stage where they just move around and can pick up anything from the ground and put in their mouths.
This is characterized by stooling and vomiting, among others. When not properly handled, it can kill affected children quickly since they are losing a lot of water from their system during this period.
During this health talk, you can enlighten the parents especially mothers on how to recognize this condition early and what to do.
Encourage them to take their affected children to hospital as fast as they can.
Also educate them on how to prepare and use ORS as well as how to maintain good hygiene and also boil their water properly when preparing foods for their little children
#4-Fever
This can occur in all age groups. It is very serious in children and points to an underlying problem.
In order to carry out a successful free medical outreach, you need to have a session for health talk. When planned and carried out correctly, you will achieve a lot by just a simple 15-30 minutes health talk. You will achieve a change in attitude and help your listeners and members of the community as well as helping them to take responsibility for their health.
In our environment, people do a lot of wrong things when they have a child with fever.
This include pouring oil on the child’s skin, in addition to other harmful practices.
During a health education session in a medical outreach, you can educate the parents on the proper thing to do for their children with fever, especially emphasize taking them to a hospital.
Also let them be aware of tepid-sponging as a temporary measure.
#5-Handwashing
This is a issue global issue right now, especially as we’ve seen that it goes a long way to prevent disease transmission.
In a medical outreach, you can teach the people the steps of effective handwashing and demonstrate handwashing for them.
To further let your teaching sink home, you can call up two people from the audience to demonstrate the handwashing so that you will be sure they understood what they’ve been taught.
#6-Diabetes
This chronic disease condition continues to be on the rise.
When giving health talk about this condition in a medical outreach, you need to emphasize the need for people to be actually take their medications as prescribed. The truth is that many people skip their drugs and only take them when they start “feeling somehow”.
Also encourage them to have their glucometers at home so they can monitor and recored their blood sugar levels regularly.
Give them other necessary tips as they would require in order to have a good quality of life. Encourage them too to be consistent with their hospital checkups
#7-Hypertension
Under this topic, you enlighten the people about blood pressure, how they need to be aware of their blood pressure and also need to be constantly checking it.
Some people do not have the blood pressure monitor at home. Most times they have to go to a nearby chemist or hospital in some cases to have their blood pressure checked.
Also give them tips to stay healthy and alright on their drugs. Also teach about the lifestyle modifications that are needed.
#8-HIV
We are far from nipping the issue of HIV/AIDS in the bud.
In 2021, 1.9 million people were said to be living with HIV in Nigeria, with women being the most affected.
This is an interesting topic to talk about at medical outreaches, especially when you will be offering free HIV screening as part of the medical outreach services.
#9-Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis still remains a problem in Nigeria and some other parts of the world.
According to the 2021 World Health Organization Global Tuberculosis Report, there was an increase in deaths from tuberculosis in 2020 compared to 2019. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has set back the hands of the clock in the worldwide fight against tuberculosis.
In handling this topic during a medical outreach, tell them the basics. Symptoms to expect for someone with tuberculosis as well as the testing modalities available.
Look at the risk factors like overcrowding and enlighten them on that. Also educate them on the need for proper screening if someone starts developing such symptoms.
Let them also know that tuberculosis is not a death sentence as there are drugs for tuberculosis which are provided for free in Nigeria at government hospitals, health centres and other government-approved facilities
#10-Cancers
You’ve been waiting for this one, right?
Cancers range from breast to cervical to ovarian cancers, lung cancers, prostate cancers among others.
In 2020, the top three cancers in Nigeria in terms of occurrence and deaths were:
i) Breast Cancer
ii) Prostate Cancer
iii) Cervical Cancer
You can choose one or two to discuss during the health talk. Risk factors, prevention if any, things to do and so on
#11-Seizure
You need to go into our communities and see how our people approach the issue of someone having seizures.
This is worse even with children. In fact, you will feel like crying when you hear of the things family members and even neighbours do to children who are convulsing.
Some of these include beating them, tying their legs, flogging them, making scarifications on them and even putting onions in their eyes and giving them urine to drink. You may be shocked to hear this, but, Yes! This still happens in some of our communities.
This is mostly as a result of misinformation.
When a child is having seizures, a neighbor may say, “Let’s do this for your child. This is what Mama Bomboy did three years ago when Bomboy was having a similar problem and the seizure stopped immediately”.
Other “concerned members” of the family and the neighbourhood will also come and give their suggestions based on what they heard someone did to someone having seizure and the seizure stopped.
The mother, already frightened and not wanting her child to die, goes on to carry out all those suggestions.
Sadly, these local fables actually do more harm than good to the person having seizure, when carried out.
So, during your health talk during the medical outreach, you can actually talk about seizure.
You can first of all identify the myths in the community by asking them what people in the community believe about seizures and those affected by it.
You can also go ahead to find out from them the common things people in that community do whenever they have somebody with seizure.
This will be very instructive for you. It will also help you to properly formulate the advice you will give to them during the health talk.
DURATION OF THE HEALTH TALK
Let’s keep it at 15-30 minutes. If the audience is quite engaging and asks questions, it may extend up to 45 minutes.
The idea is to retain the attention of the audience while delivering to them the information you believe they should have about the topic of discussion.
If your health talk is too short, you may not be able to pass across all the information the people need. If the health talk lasts too long, distractions may set in here and there. The people may also start becoming restless. Remember they came primarily for your free drugs and free medical consultation.
Note: As much as possible, let the health talk be given at the beginning of the outreach. This can be before everything else commences or just after the vital signs are taken. During this time, the other sections of the outreach that have not yet been fully set up can be set up. After the health talk, the outreach can kick off fully.
TIPS FOR THE HEALTH TALK SESSION
1) Use simple words the people can relate with. Come down to their level. If their English language is not perfect, you can find a way to let them understand what you’re saying.. If you meet professionals or more educated people, you can adjust your English upwards.
2) Speak the local dialect, if possible: Nothing stops you from explaining to them in the local language. It mustn’t be always English language
3) Let it be interactive. People understand better when they are integrated into the lecture than when you just stand aloof in one corner dishing out information to them. Walk around, ask them questions, get feedbacks, use one or more persons from the audience to demonstrate your points. Add humor once in a while. Make them laugh. That way, your audience will flow along with you.
4) Call for questions at the end of the health talk.
CONCLUSION
Will you try out these topics in the health talk at your next medical outreach? Have you already tried out some of the topics? What was the outcome? Kindly drop your comments below.
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