May 19, 2016 | Summer 2016
Early in the day, half of our team members visited the Holy Spirit Hospital again to talk to the nurse who manages all the glucose testing on Diabetes Day (every Wednesday). She told us that in the beginning of Diabetes Day, patients had to pay for their registration fee and could not afford it. The nurse later suggested the founder to provide free screening in order to raise awareness and encourage people to know their own status in order to safe lives. It was also interesting that she mentioned some traditional healers told the community to eat honey to cure diabetes, which led more severe cases of diabetes. The nurse explained that more and more patients are coming to get screened for diabetes and that they need more space for the patient’s comfort. In the future, they hope to work with the Chairman of the Diabetes Association to expand their diabetes clinic and visit schools to raise awareness and encourage everyone to get screened. We are delighted to know our team and Holy Spirit Hospital are working together to help patients with diabetes in Sierra Leone.
Over the last few days, we have been interviewing several individuals to map the healthcare network in Sierra Leone and identify the pathway(s) that rural and urban communities take to get screened and treated for diabetes. We are now in the process of moving into the second portion of our study, in which we determine how the healthcare system responds to the introduction of diabetes screening strips. Today we worked on writing and designing referral forms, questionnaires, and surveys to determine how various entities (e.g., pharmacists, hospitals, Pubic Health Units (PHUs), Community Health Workers (CHWs), and people) influence the system response to diabetes screening strips.