Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus: A Preliminary South African Health Promotion Activity Using Service-Learning Principles

Abstract

A marked increase in the chronic non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus in the South African population is in concert with global trends. A health promotion activity carried out by pharmacy students for school learners during the Sasol National Festival of Science and Technology (SciFest) in South Africa was used as a service-learning opportunity. Pilot tested quizzes on hypertension and diabetes were used to determine the level of knowledge of attendees before and after taking the computer based quiz. Posters, information leaflets and interactive models on these two conditions were also used to reach out to the larger population. Of the 203 participants for the hypertension quiz, 169 completed both the pre- and post-intervention quizzes. Similarly, 86 of the 104 participants for the diabetes quiz, completed both the pre- and post-intervention quizzes. The results show that the post-intervention quiz resulted in a significant increase in the scores from 78.2 to 85.6 % in the case of Hypertension while a marginal increase from 94.2 to 95.5 % was obtained in the case of diabetes. The knowledge of the SciFest attendees with regard to both conditions is above average and improved further after the educational intervention. Health promotion activities which include interactive educational methods and culturally appropriate materials carried out by pharmacy students during service-learning courses are important for improving the awareness on the prevention of these chronic health conditions. Heath promotion service-learning courses can assist in addressing the health care gaps which arise because of a lack of co-ordinated efforts between NGO's and local Government to address the prevention and management of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus.

Health promotion interventions for the control of hypertension in Africa, a systematic scoping review from 2011 to 2021

“…The study designs adopted were survey [ 21 , 25 ], quasi-experimental [ 30 – 32 ], Cohort [ 22 , 24 , 25 ], mixed methods [ 26 ], randomised control [ 20 ], and exploratory uncontrolled pre–post intervention [ 23 ] as shown in Table 1 . The studies were conducted in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Rhodes University [ 21 ], the Gugulethu township of Cape Town [ 26 ], Khayelitsha [ 24 ] all in South Africa [ 22 , 25 ], Sousse in Tunisia [ 30 ], Afon and Ajasse Ipo districts in Kwara State in Nigeria [ 31 ], three community pharmacies in the Ashanti Region of Ghana [ 23 ], and the slums of Korogocho and Viwandani in Nairobi [ 30 ]. The target participants for the health promotion interventions had a minimum age of eleven [ 21 ] and a maximum of sixty-five years [ 30 ] and included both sexes.…”

“…The studies were conducted in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Rhodes University [ 21 ], the Gugulethu township of Cape Town [ 26 ], Khayelitsha [ 24 ] all in South Africa [ 22 , 25 ], Sousse in Tunisia [ 30 ], Afon and Ajasse Ipo districts in Kwara State in Nigeria [ 31 ], three community pharmacies in the Ashanti Region of Ghana [ 23 ], and the slums of Korogocho and Viwandani in Nairobi [ 30 ]. The target participants for the health promotion interventions had a minimum age of eleven [ 21 ] and a maximum of sixty-five years [ 30 ] and included both sexes. The sampling methods adopted were the convenience [ 21 , 23 , 24 , 26 , 30 ], stratified convenience [ 25 ], random [ 30 ], stratified 2-degree random probability by geographic areas [ 31 ], and the Markov model used as a tool for sampling with the focus on age variability of cardiovascular diseases [ 22 ].…”

“…The target participants for the health promotion interventions had a minimum age of eleven [ 21 ] and a maximum of sixty-five years [ 30 ] and included both sexes. The sampling methods adopted were the convenience [ 21 , 23 , 24 , 26 , 30 ], stratified convenience [ 25 ], random [ 30 ], stratified 2-degree random probability by geographic areas [ 31 ], and the Markov model used as a tool for sampling with the focus on age variability of cardiovascular diseases [ 22 ]. The study duration for each intervention study ranged from a minimum of a day health education programme [ 21 ] to a maximum of 36 months health promotion for behaviour change [ 30 ].…”

“…The sampling methods adopted were the convenience [ 21 , 23 , 24 , 26 , 30 ], stratified convenience [ 25 ], random [ 30 ], stratified 2-degree random probability by geographic areas [ 31 ], and the Markov model used as a tool for sampling with the focus on age variability of cardiovascular diseases [ 22 ]. The study duration for each intervention study ranged from a minimum of a day health education programme [ 21 ] to a maximum of 36 months health promotion for behaviour change [ 30 ]. The other studies were 3months [ 25 ], 4 months [ 20 , 26 ], 5 months [ 23 ], 9 to 10 months [ 25 ], 12 months [ 22 ], 18months [ 32 ] and 24 months [ 24 , 31 ] health promotion interventions.…”

“…These criteria include representativeness of the sample to the population, appropriateness of measurement of both the outcome and the intervention, completeness of outcome data, accounting for confounders in the design and analysis, and whether the interventions were administered as expected. The appraisal showed that some studies did not meet the criteria pertaining to the representativeness of study participants to the population [ 21 – 24 ], presence of complete outcome data [ 25 ], accounting for confounders in the design and analysis [ 22 , 24 , 25 ] and whether an intervention was administered [ 24 ]. One of the studies used a mixed-method study design and met all the criteria that include the adequacy of rationale for mixed-method study, appropriate integration of quantitative and qualitative data, divergence, and inconsistencies between quantitative and qualitative results, and that the different levels of the study adhered to the quality criteria of each tradition of the methods used.…”