Summary of geriatric disease prevention publicity activities

A total of 214 resident elderly people over 60 years old were covered. A random check after the event showed that 82% of the participants could accurately state the core prevention points of three high-risk geriatric diseases: hypertension, diabetes, and osteoporosis. The awareness rate increased by 61 percentage points compared with before the event.； However, it also exposed two core problems: insufficient adaptability of popular science content and lack of follow-up mechanism. Overall, 78% of the preset goals were achieved, and it has the value of regular promotion after optimization.

On my first day, I was helping out at the free clinic in Chunguang Community. I met 73-year-old Uncle Li, who came over to measure his blood pressure while holding a cloth bag with advertisements for health products. The systolic blood pressure was 157. He said nonchalantly, "It's like this when you get older. If you don't feel dizzy, you'll be fine." Later, I listened to Dr. Wang from the community hospital's half-time sharing. When the show was over, I came over to ask how to use the electronic blood pressure monitor my son had bought before. He said that he thought it was useless before and threw it in a drawer and was gathering dust. Now he plans to take it out when he goes back and measure it every day. Don't tell me, when Dr. Wang was speaking that day, the old people sitting below, even the usually chatty ones, listened quietly and nodded from time to time. The effect was indeed different.

In fact, during the preparation, our team had several arguments about the content direction. Some people advocated asking specialists from tertiary hospitals to give lectures. The content should be professional and comprehensive. It is best to thoroughly explain the pathogenesis and intervention methods of the ten most common geriatric diseases. Others firmly opposed it, saying that the elderly do not understand terms such as "primary" and "evidence-based medicine". It is better to arrange more skits, organize some prize-winning quizzes, and explain the points of "less salt, less oil and more exercise" over and over again. Later, we compromised. We invited a general practitioner like Dr. Wang, who has been practicing in the community all year round, to speak down-to-earth content in dialect at the main venue. Specialist consultation posts were set up at the branch venues. Elderly people with special needs could consult doctors from tertiary hospitals individually. Looking back now, this choice was quite right. The attendance rate at the main venue was 30% higher than previously estimated, and less than 10% left the venue midway.

Of course there are many problems. On the second day of the event, some family members came over to make comments, saying that the elderly family member had Parkinson's disease. During the whole session, I didn't hear much specific content, and the trip was in vain. There are also several elderly people with hearing loss who live alone. They said that the live sound was too noisy and they could not hear what was being said when they were sitting in the back. The 32-page popular science manual we printed at the beginning was so small that it was difficult to wear reading glasses. Later statistics showed that 17% of the elderly reported that the content did not meet their needs, which was much higher than we expected. Also, we had mispredicted the number of people present, so the small gifts such as salt-limiting spoons and waist measuring tapes were distributed on the same day. The more than 20 elderly people who came later did not receive them. An aunt came over and asked if she could bring one to her next time. She said that before, the salt in cooking was based on the feel of the hand, but now I want to control the salt and I just need a spoon. I wrote it down in a small book at the time, and I will definitely prepare two more boxes next time.

In fact, in the circle of elderly health promotion, there has been a debate with no final conclusion: Should we do universal promotion with wide coverage, or should we do precise disease-specific special events? The former is low-cost, covers a wide range of people, and can solve the basic cognitive problems of most elderly people, but it is almost useless for the elderly with underlying diseases and special needs. ； The latter is highly targeted, but has a small audience, and the cost of a single session is more than three times that of a universal session. This time we have actually stepped on this pitfall. We did not find out the number of elderly people with special needs in the community in advance. We plan to try the "1+N" model in the future. We will first conduct a large universal publicity, and then, based on the preliminary investigation, conduct 2-3 small special sessions, such as diabetes care, bone and joint care, and early dementia screening, to educate the elderly in need. The effect may be better.

When I was packing up after the event on the last day of the event, I picked up half a popular science card that had been folded several times on a chair in Yuanbei Community. It was the kind of palm-sized card that we temporarily printed later. The words were twice as big as the manual, and only three words were written for each type of disease. The core point is that under the "No more than one beer can of salt per day" column in the high blood pressure column, two lines were drawn crookedly with a pencil, and "Less sauce" was written next to it. At that moment, I really felt that even if only one person listened, this activity would not be in vain.

Now we have connected with the volunteer teams in the two communities. We plan to go into the communities one day a month for follow-up visits, measure the blood pressure of the elderly people whose contact information was left last time, and answer questions. Of course, there are still not enough manpower, and there is still a gap in funds for the production of promotional materials. After all, the prevention of geriatric diseases is not something that can be effective by just one or two activities. Take your time, and the more impact you can have, the more.