"Sehtak Mas’ouletak" (Your Health, Your Responsibility) Initiative

A community health initiative designed and implemented by 4 beneficiaries from the Jabal Al-Natheef neighborhood. They were motivated by their sense of social responsibility and caring for the elderly in the neighborhood due to the high rates of diabetes and blood pressure diseases among them, and difficulty in accessing appropriate care, especially during the Coronavirus closures. The initiative involved implementing a community awareness-raising campaign, benefiting 400 households who were visited and informed on proper diets and active lifestyles, involving both exercise and healthy diets, to prevent chronic diseases and control their impact on patients. The initiative also included home visits in the presence of a specialist doctor, benefiting 46 hypertension patients and 30 low-income diabetic patients, who were not able to access health centers during the Coronavirus closures. The patients were educated about the optimal lifestyle to avoid the complications of these diseases and ways to cope with their implications. The patients were also educated on ways to prevent infection with the Coronavirus, specifically because of the presence of risk factors for this category of patients. In addition, they were provided with medical bags containing a blood pressure monitor, a glucometer, some sterilizers and medical supplies. The initiative helped the team gain a sense of confidence and responsibility towards their community and acquire new qualitative knowledge in the medical field as well as deeper knowledge and skills in time management, planning, community communication, and coordination with government agencies and community-based organizations in the area.