OMEGA 3 – CIMSA-Indonesia

Name of the activity: OMEGA 3

Country/NMO: CIMSA-Indonesia

Program: Healthy Lifestyles & Non-Communicable Diseases

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

Type of the activity: Continuous Activity

Category: Education

Focus area: Children & healthy habits

Sustainable Development Goals addressed: SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation)

General description:

OMEGA 3 is a community development activity that focuses on changing maternal behavior, with sub-themes covering the first 1000 days of life, child nutrition&sanitation, immunization, and monitoring children’s nutritional status using anthropometry. OMEGA 3 works with local posyandu, or primary health institutions, to maximize the intervention and monitoring process. The intervention also invited many doctors, and used several educational posters and videos, and fun games related to the topics.

Problem statement:

Children’s health issues arise in the Depok, West Java area of Lio Village. According to the 2019 Depok city profile, the average birth weight of infants in Lio village is greater than the LBW limit, although there are still a significant number of kids whose birth weight has not been reported. According to the report, 10 out of every 50 toddlers were malnourished.

Target groups:

• Pregnant women and mothers with toddlers

Beneficiaries:

• General population
• Children

Objectives:

1. Empowering Medical Students

– Increasing members knowledge of the first 1000 days, stunting, nutritional balance, immunization, sanitation, and the concept of “asah, asih, asuh” (Knowledge)

– Developing the communication skill of the medical student (Practice)

– Raising awareness of surrounding nutritional problem happens in society (Attitude)

2. Improving Nation’s Health

– Increasing community knowledge of the first 1000 days, stunting, nutritional balance, immunization, sanitation, and the concept of “asah, asih, asuh” (Knowledge)

– Increasing the ability of the community to overcome the nutritional problem in children (Practice)

– Increasing community awareness of nutritional problems in children (Attitude)

Indicators of Success:

• The total number of participants met the target of 25 people
• The committee’s attendance must be at least 75%.
• Events start and end on time.
• 70% of participants experienced an increase in the value of knowledge
• 70% of participants gave a minimum score of 7/10 on the satisfaction questionnaire
• Administration in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

Methodology:

We held a bonding session to give a brief introduction of the project,a mini discussion with a pediatrician about children’s health issues, and games.1st intervention was carried out by a one-on-one personal approach and myth/fact games about the first 1000 days of life.The 2nd intervention discussed balanced nutrition that was carried out through “Which is healthier?” games and a competition to create “Balanced Nutrition Eating Menu” that ended with a clarification session with a nutritionist regarding menu participants created.3rd intervention material is delivered as case studies and myth/fact games regarding stunting and how to do anthropometry.The 4th intervention was about sanitation and its diseases-related through case studiesThe follow-up was done by implementing a child and environmental sanitation challenge.5th intervention, Moringa trees were distributed along with instructional leaflets and follow-up papers in the form of an application of the principle of “asah,asih,asuh”

Plans for evaluation:

OMEGA 3 experienced a significant increase in knowledge, with a difference of 37.17 percent between the average pretest and posttest. The decision to schedule the intervention date near the committee’s academic activities (examination) also has an impact on the performance of many committees, causing an extension of the intervention time to improve the committee’s work. Although personalized strategies were used and large groups felt more enthusiastic during the mother-led play sessions, based on the observation, there were still some mothers who were unresponsive.

External collaborations:

none