PAYM Loves Red: Fit. Fun. Fruits. 2023 – Bringing inter-professionalism into services
On the 20th of August 2023, the NUS Pharmaceutical Society (NUSPS) Inter-Professional Education Committee held its flagship event, Fit. Fun. Fruits. 2023 (FFF) in collaboration with the Essential Medicines Committee. This was the first time the event was held after it was put on hiatus for several years, and it was held to a resounding success.
A group photo with volunteers from NUS Pharmacy, NUS Nursing and Yew Tee Youth Network
The event was planned with the goal of educating and empowering migrant workers at Westlite Kranji Way with knowledge to take charge of their own health, while allowing student volunteers from different healthcare sectors to collaborate with and learn from one another. The student volunteers from NUS Nursing and Pharmacy had the opportunity to interact with and be involved in the perceived ‘invisible’ community in Singapore, allowing their diverse expertise and shared compassion to come together to create a positive impact in this community. The event was held with great success, with more than 350 migrant workers attending the event.
Several booths were set up to target the “Fit”, “Fun” and “Fruits” components. The Blood Pressure (BP) and Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement station covered the “Fit” component of the event, where our trained student volunteers provided simple health screening and lifestyle counselling to the migrant workers, allowing them to have a glimpse of their own state of health and understand the significance of their BP and BMI values.
A Pharmacy student explaining to a participant how to understand their BP values
On top of that, there was also an interactive health talk station where our Nursing and Pharmacy students leveraged on their unique expertise and worked together to educate the migrant workers on the management of pain and heat disorders. The Nursing students shared their insight on the various non-pharmacological ways to manage pain as well as the proper posture to carry heavy items, while the Pharmacy students covered the common over-the-counter medications that can be used to alleviate simple muscle ache.
A Nursing student sharing on the common heat disorders for the Health Talk Station
There were also other stations such as the Nintendo Switch station and Goodie Bag station which covered the “Fun” and the “Fruits” components of the event. The Nintendo Switch station, which was manned by the Yew Tee Youth Network, offered a platform for the migrant workers to relax and have fun with the student volunteers, while the Goodie Bag station handed out goodie bags with fruits such as apples and bananas, which served to encourage the migrant workers to be mindful of their diet and emphasize the importance of eating healthily.
A migrant worker enjoying himself at the Nintendo Switch Station
All in all, the Inter-Professional Education Committee and Essential Medicines Committee would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who were involved in the event, be they volunteers or participants. It was a heartwarming experience to see the great turnout of the event by the volunteers. We would also like to thank the Yew Tee Youth Network, as well as our NUS Nursing colleagues, for their strong partnership in making this event a successful one. We sincerely hope that everyone who was involved in the event found it to be fruitful, and that they enjoyed themselves. We look forward to more fruitful collaborations with everyone again in the near future!
Article by Beckham Goh Keng Tze (Year 3 Pharmacy student, NUSPS 62nd Essential Medicine Director) and Lam Weng Chung (Year 3 Pharmacy student, NUSPS 62nd Inter-Professional Education Director)
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