by Raffy Sacdalan
Penthouse, Angelo King Auditorium – Both faculty and students of the college witnessed the first Preventive Medicine: Research Presentation for S.Y.2014-2015 held last July 23 at the Angelo King Auditorium.
Three out of the eight researches conducted by the third years were chosen to be presented to the general audience.
Dr. Edmyr Macabulos, a faculty member of the Preventive and Community Medicine department, introduced the respective speakers for each study.
Knowledge, attitude and practice towards disaster preparedness
The first research entitled “Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of the Residents of Barangay Old Balara towards Disaster Preparedness” was presented by third year student, Jeff James Alega.
He began by giving a brief background on the roots of disaster, particularly on how continuous urbanization and presence of hazards may contribute to the vulnerability of a certain place to disaster.
Based on the responses of the residents of Barangay Old Balara to questionnaires, the researchers were able to conclude that although the residents generally have a positive attitude and well-constructed household disaster plans, their lack of familiarity with existing evacuation sites may compromise preparedness.
Mr. Alega ended on a positive note by saying that this strong positive attitude may be harnessed by exposure of residents to educational programs and having a concise assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the area’s existing disaster plans.
Health and social status of the elderly
Maria Eda Rosal Manatag, another third year presented the research entitled “Descriptive Study on the Health and Social Status of the Elderly in Barangay Old Balara, Quezon City”, as it assessed different health and social status factors–morbidities, disabilities, level of independence, perception of health, life satisfaction among others–via questionnaires.
The researchers found out that majority of the elders have chronic, non-infectious disease, decreased visual acuity, high level of independence and maintained their position as head of the household.
In contrast, there is a decline in social status, participation in volunteer work, employment and perception of health with increasing age.
Other significant findings revolved around the elders’ preferred recreational activities, source of income and living arrangements.
The persisting issue on contraceptives
Third-year, Patricia Pintac, presented their research entitled, “Factors that Determine the Use of Birth Control Methods among Women Aged 21-49 in Barangay Old Balara” and began by giving a brief introduction on birth control and how it is a means for maintaining a sustainable family size.
With the use of questionnaires, the researchers were able to determine the factors that were deemed to be of great consequence to birth control by the residents of the barangay.
Middle age—averaging from thirty to thirty-nine—partner communication, and accessibility proved to be the most significant factors that determine the use of birth control methods in these women.
Desire to limit childbirth and level of education, on the other hand, were considered to be inconsequential, where the researchers attributed the latter factor as a limitation to their study since there was an unequal distribution of different levels of educations amongst the female correspondents.
Addressing Ethical Concerns
Queries were addressed to the third-year students after every presentation with issues ranging from socio-economic classes, fatalistic attitudes, to relation of religion to life satisfaction.
Discussion became tense when the question of ethics came up regarding the need for the study on women’s contraceptive practices to have undergone an ethical review.
Dr. Carolina Linda Tapia, head of the Preventive and Community Medicine Department, expressed her sentiments on the difficulty of getting an ethics board review for the researches, citing the extreme length of time that it takes before research proposals can be approved since the college has no such thing as an ethics review board as of yet.
She also acknowledged that, as a consequence, the study cannot be published due to this lingering concern.
However, Dean Brigido Carandang voiced his intentions for the college to have its very own ethics review board in the future to address this problem. [x]
Penthouse, Angelo King Auditorium – Both faculty and students of the college witnessed the first Preventive Medicine: Research Presentation for S.Y.2014-2015 held last July 23 at the Angelo King Auditorium.
Three out of the eight researches conducted by the third years were chosen to be presented to the general audience.
Dr. Edmyr Macabulos, a faculty member of the Preventive and Community Medicine department, introduced the respective speakers for each study.
Knowledge, attitude and practice towards disaster preparedness
The first research entitled “Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of the Residents of Barangay Old Balara towards Disaster Preparedness” was presented by third year student, Jeff James Alega.
He began by giving a brief background on the roots of disaster, particularly on how continuous urbanization and presence of hazards may contribute to the vulnerability of a certain place to disaster.
Based on the responses of the residents of Barangay Old Balara to questionnaires, the researchers were able to conclude that although the residents generally have a positive attitude and well-constructed household disaster plans, their lack of familiarity with existing evacuation sites may compromise preparedness.
Mr. Alega ended on a positive note by saying that this strong positive attitude may be harnessed by exposure of residents to educational programs and having a concise assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the area’s existing disaster plans.
Health and social status of the elderly
Maria Eda Rosal Manatag, another third year presented the research entitled “Descriptive Study on the Health and Social Status of the Elderly in Barangay Old Balara, Quezon City”, as it assessed different health and social status factors–morbidities, disabilities, level of independence, perception of health, life satisfaction among others–via questionnaires.
The researchers found out that majority of the elders have chronic, non-infectious disease, decreased visual acuity, high level of independence and maintained their position as head of the household.
In contrast, there is a decline in social status, participation in volunteer work, employment and perception of health with increasing age.
Other significant findings revolved around the elders’ preferred recreational activities, source of income and living arrangements.
The persisting issue on contraceptives
Third-year, Patricia Pintac, presented their research entitled, “Factors that Determine the Use of Birth Control Methods among Women Aged 21-49 in Barangay Old Balara” and began by giving a brief introduction on birth control and how it is a means for maintaining a sustainable family size.
With the use of questionnaires, the researchers were able to determine the factors that were deemed to be of great consequence to birth control by the residents of the barangay.
Middle age—averaging from thirty to thirty-nine—partner communication, and accessibility proved to be the most significant factors that determine the use of birth control methods in these women.
Desire to limit childbirth and level of education, on the other hand, were considered to be inconsequential, where the researchers attributed the latter factor as a limitation to their study since there was an unequal distribution of different levels of educations amongst the female correspondents.
Addressing Ethical Concerns
Queries were addressed to the third-year students after every presentation with issues ranging from socio-economic classes, fatalistic attitudes, to relation of religion to life satisfaction.
Discussion became tense when the question of ethics came up regarding the need for the study on women’s contraceptive practices to have undergone an ethical review.
Dr. Carolina Linda Tapia, head of the Preventive and Community Medicine Department, expressed her sentiments on the difficulty of getting an ethics board review for the researches, citing the extreme length of time that it takes before research proposals can be approved since the college has no such thing as an ethics review board as of yet.
She also acknowledged that, as a consequence, the study cannot be published due to this lingering concern.
However, Dean Brigido Carandang voiced his intentions for the college to have its very own ethics review board in the future to address this problem. [x]