The UOH Institute of Health Sciences will begin research projects in collaboration with CESFAM N°8 “Doctor Nicolás Díaz”, along with a series of talks and activities for the community, which are later expected to be replicated in the various Family Health Centers of the regional capital.
Sedentary lifestyle, poor nutrition and chronic diseases are part of the routine at the Family Health Centers (CESFAM) in our country. How to prevent and solve these public health challenges, especially for the regional capital of O’Higgins, is what a group of academics and researchers from the Institute of Health Sciences of the University of O’Higgins (UOH) hope to do, through an agreement with the Municipal Corporation of Rancagua, which will allow them to investigate the current situation of patients and their health and physical activity habits.
“We hope to carry out various investigations in the area of health, starting with CESFAM N°8 and then replicating it in other Family Health Centers in the city. We will also strengthen this work, as a form of compensation, with specific talks that contribute to the CESFAM community and the possibility of generating some long-term mutual projects,” explained Sebastián Jannas Vela, UOH academic and one of the leaders of the initiative.
She added that the objective is to find out the health status of the people at the CESFAM “Dr. Nicolás Díaz”. “We are going to try to gather this information and collect other important health information through different research projects. For example, we will measure the physical activity levels of the population, through measurements and questionnaires, which could allow us to create a prevention strategy in the commune against non-communicable diseases. We also hope to have information on nutrition and sleep quality, and to carry out interdisciplinary work with older people, as well as children.”
For his part, Saúl Figueroa, director of CESFAM N°8, explained that for the Family Health Center “it is a privilege to work with the University of O’Higgins, not only in the teaching field, but also in research, since these results will allow us to focus health interventions on prevention and promotion, central aspects of Primary Health Care (PHC).”
Figueroa added that, due to the existing workload, there is not enough time in health teams to research, systematize, evaluate and implement new strategies that favor an improvement in the social determinants of health. “That is why it is a challenge for our CESFAM team to resume methodological research tools and, of course, to revalue the contribution of academia in updating knowledge and, fundamentally, to have updated and pertinent information for our users, family and community.”
He adds that the conclusions and suggestions arising from studies and research will allow for the creation of public-private alliances – or other types – that will reorient current interventions, and thus the community will benefit, both in terms of quality of life and health.
For his part, the director of the Health Division, Fernando Barrios Toledo, said that this project is “a very important initiative for us as an institution, since the link with the Higher Education institutions and, above all, with the UOH, comes to reinforce this alliance in a topic as important for our Health Centers as are the habits, whether healthy or not, of the residents of the commune and will allow us to update information on this topic.”
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