A Brighter Smile – IFMSA-Pakistan

Name of the activity: A Brighter Smile

Country/NMO: IFMSA-Pakistan

Program: Healthy Lifestyles & Non-Communicable Diseases

Contact information: contact [email protected] to get in touch with the Activity Coordinator

Type of the activity: First-time Activity

Category: Education

Focus area: Prevention of NCDs and Health Promotion, Awareness regarding Oral Health

Sustainable Development Goals addressed: SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities)

General description:

A social media campaign for 2 days, focusing on highlighting the importance of oral health and educating the audience regarding steps that can be taken to improve oral health from an individual level.

A ward activity, where in collaboration with PADS, the general population will be screened for oral health concerns, and they will be educated upon better standards of oral health aiming to achieve the goal of theme, and ensuring the maximum number of people are able to enjoy the perfect smile.

Problem statement:

Oral health holds immense importance, yet is one of the most neglected with nearly 3.5 billion people affected by oral diseases. The oral health care system in Pakistan has been striving to counter the rise in decline in oral health mainly due to the lack of facilities available to much of the population. World Oral Health Day is celebrated on the 20th of March each year, and the year’s theme is ‘Be Proud of Your Mouth’ encouraging people to take care of their oral health.

Target groups:

• Medical students
• Children

Beneficiaries:

• General population
• Medical students
• Healthcare Students
• Other Students
• Other health professionals
• Children

Objectives:

– To educate the general public of at least 100 people regarding dental hygiene through an infographics campaign on IFMSA Social media platforms throughout June 2022

– For IFMSA-Pakistan volunteers to screen 50 people for their oral health to help improve health standards in collaboration with the Pakistan Association of Dental Students (PADS), on 11th June 2022 in an impoverished community in the city of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. 

– To encourage at least 30 medical students to take a pledge to improve oral health standards by the distribution of pledge bands amongst participants designed and organised by IFMSA-Pakistan volunteers on the 11th of June, 2022

Indicators of Success:

General:

– All aspects of the activity to be completed

– 40 participants attend the dental camp 

– Total number of volunteers

– Social media posts outreach (likes, reactions, comments for each poster shared)

– Participants’ feedback and satisfaction rate 

Specific

– Active Monitoring 

– SWOT analysis was done on multiple occasions to identify strengths, opportunities, potential threats and weaknesses and mitigate the risks using a risk management strategy.

– 500 social media outreach of the activity posters and activity infographics campaign

– 60% of screening activity attendees indicate that their awareness of the importance of oral health standards in a person’s life has increased 

– 30 participants actively participate in the pledge activity 

– 80% positive rating in feedback forms

– Post-event report and photographs 

Methodology:

Screening School Activity 

200+ children being screened for dental health by 10 Medical and Dental Doctors and BDS (Dental) students. The organizing committee was responsible for preparing the posters for IFMSA-Pakistan and PADS social media handles, as well as creating the registration, pre-evaluation, post-evaluation, and feedback forms.

Pledge Band activity:

After the seminar, the participants were given pledge bands to highlight that now Oral Health will be their priority.

Not only did we aim to bring awareness, our motto, to bring A Brighter Smile, was successfully achieved with the help of our OC. Our activity included educational games, face painting, placing a pledge, raffle prizes winning dental hygiene goodies and last but not least, awareness presentations & models. Each child thoroughly enjoyed the dental camp and asked the volunteers to visit again!

Plans for evaluation:

Plans for Evaluation:

– Social media outreach

– Number of participants attending the screening drive 

– Pre- and post-evaluation forms to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of participants regarding oral Health

– Impact assessment of participants after the screening activity 

– Feedback forms for the activity

Plans for Monitoring:

– Online meetings will be regularly held to discuss activity organisation

– Creating a task sheet to delegate work to the Organising Committee members

– Compare timeline with ongoing work

– Tracking the progress of Organising Committee members through a task sheet.

External collaborations:

The activity was conducted in collaboration with PADS – Pakistani Association of dental students for the “PADS World Oral Health Day Campaign” to screen children in an impoverished community and to ensure the outreach programme is successful in bringing awareness of oral hygiene and the detrimental impacts of poor oral hygiene on general health.