Health Screening was provided for free from Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity
Community engagement in health and self-care programmes by healthcare institutions can help increase health awareness.
HEALTHCARE is defined as the prevention or necessary treatment procedures through a healthcare system by healthcare workers such as doctors, dentists or psychologists to improve and maintain a person’s physical and mental health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a good health system delivers quality services to all people, when and where they need them. The exact configuration of services varies from country to country, but in all cases they require a robust financing mechanism; a well-trained and adequately paid workforce; reliable information on which to base decisions and policies; well-maintained facilities and logistics to deliver quality medicines and technologies.
Medical centres are known for treating illnesses, but they are no longer just a place for patients to seek medical attentions. Several health institutions, including private hospitals, have developed unique approaches and programmes to create a more harmonised and effective community health system.
How healthcare institutions can help
Healthcare institutions play an important role in bringing the community together and educating them about health and well-being. They can do so by coordinating and facilitating with other community organisations to organise community-oriented activities that promote health awareness.
Several township developments have incorporated medical centres into their masterplans to provide a wide range of healthcare services for their community. One of the best examples is the Sunway Medical Centre in Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya.
Developed by Sunway Group, Sunway Medical Centre is an Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS)- accredited private hospital that offers health and wellness programmes in addition to the facilities and advanced medical technologies for outpatient and inpatient specialty care and 24-hour emergency services.
Through Sunway Medical Centre, Sunway Group has proactively sought to nourish healthy living within the community by educating them on the importance of healthcare. The medical centre holds various public forums and symposia, health campaigns as well as regular free health workshops and screenings.
Some of the community events that were held by Sunway Medical Centre in the past few months include a public forum for World Breastfeeding Week 2016, Sunway GP symposium on “Foresight in Ophthalmology”, a health talk on family routines and play, and a “Quit Smoking” campaign.
Sunway Medical Centre is also the first hospital in Malaysia to perform Deep Brain Stimulation for patients with Parkinson’s disease and the first private teaching hospital here to commence the Cochlear Implant programme for patient with profound hearing loss.
Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity in Desa Park City is another great example of where healthcare institutions work closely together to improve the health and lives of everyone in the community, not just the patients.
Besides the latest medical and information technologies, the third full-fledged hospital under Sime Darby Healthcare Group also offers a range of events to its patients and visitors.
ParkCity Medical Centre has hosted numerous events, such as Mega March Carnival 2016, that include various activities like “Jazzercise”, a family day for dialysis patients and families in conjunction with the World Kidney Day, a health talk by doctors on an essential medical topic, a health talk by dietitian and free basic screening; Kidszathon (A walk in the Park), which is a parent’s and kids walkathon; and a recently concluded Breast Feeding Awareness programme that exhibited a mini expo on mummy and baby’s essentials and a public forum.
The importance of community participation
WHO calls the partnership and participation between healthcare providers and a community as the “community involvement in health”. This partnership is crucial as health professionals are the facilitators that generate healthcare strategies, which can produce effective community health.
Community involvement in health basically means that communities take responsibility for their own health through innovative community programmes and partnerships, including services and promotion that can help communities to stay safe and healthy while improving the overall well-being.
Communities should take part in any health-related events hosted by healthcare institutions nearby and get involved in community benefits activities to improve their overall health awareness, well-being and health knowledge.
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