Education and Public Health and Safety In Fiji

There is no doubt that education and greater understanding of health issues can lead individuals, families and communities towards improved health outcomes. 

You support for this project is much appreciated.  The resources we are able to develop and share to support health outcomes as well as the resources we can use for children's learning help consolidate understanding of health topics.

We work with a local school and help run a health club one afternoon per week. Importantly we do this in liaison with the teachers. The lessons need to be engaging and interesting, we need to ensure the students are understanding and taking on board the health topics we address. We therefore use an interactive approach.  In some cases we may use songs and rhymes to reinforce messaging.  In other cases a craft activity or poster making may be more appropriate. Of course 'doing' is important in the learning process so what better way to reinforce hand washing for example than to be actually practicing as part of the lesson.

So how do we decide what health topics this to address?

This is where our partnership with the District nurse is so important.  We work in collaboration to identify what the common health issues in the district are at any given time. The district nurse and her team can pass on to us any trends on health issues.  For example if quite a few people are experiencing stomach bugs or if there are a lot of people with the common cold, this is where we can really focus in on these issues and focus on hygiene practices that can prevent the spread.

Of course we would ideally run these lessons before an outbreak occurs.  This is where the data we put together from the District nurse and her team is so helpful.  We can refer to it and see that in a certain month the flu tends to hit the district so we can get ahead and work on colds and flu prevention before the start of the season. 

Our workshops and information don't only involve school children we also help facilitate workshops for adults infact this year we have run over 30 workshops and had more than 200 participants in total. These workshops address the current health needs in the region as well as broader health topics for example the health issues related to smoking.  In delivering these workshops it is vital to have resources to support the learning topics this can include such things as  handouts, brochures and posters. 

We appreciate your support and value your contributions as they mean we can ensure workshops and information are as accessible and interesting as possible and support learning on health topics.