Engaging communities through smiles
WHEN one learns by doing, one is able to translate what is acquired in lecture halls and labs into practical service and apply the knowledge and skills in an actual environment.
This in essence is what service learning is all about, the outreach programme that University of Malaya has. It provides students not only a meaningful and effective way to practice what they learn in formal settings in real-life terms, but also an avenue to become caring and community-minded citizens.
For UM’s Faculty of Dentistry, service learning is manifested in its community engagements within and outside the university with the aim of exchanging knowledge, promoting health and well-being for the benefit of the society. It not only provides an opportunity for students to foster their broader understanding of the community and social responsibilities, but also enables them to participate in inter-professional learning experience.
“Through our outreach programmes, we aspire to offer a mentoring programme that offers structured on-campus events, workplace preparation activities, and dedicated workshops to provide an avenue for our students to become caring, community-minded citizens,” said Dr Jacob John Chimerel Chandy, a lecturer at the faculty’s Department of Restorative Dentistry.
“In our community engagement, we foresee inclusion of people with disabilities into everyday activities. This is done by putting in place practices and policies that will remove physical, communication, and attitudinal barriers that hamper the individual’s ability to have full participation in society — just as able-bodied persons. It is a mistaken belief that people with intellectual disabilities exhibit poor health owing to their disability. Research has shown that it is a result of breakdown in health education, health promotion and health care,” he said.
An example of such engagement is the collaboration between UM’s Dentistry Faculty and Special Olympics Asia Pacific.
According to Dr Jacob, via the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) recently, UM will provide its expertise and services in ensuring the oral health of the athletes through the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes programme.
Officially launched in 1997, Special Olympics Healthy Athletes provides health screening in seven different health areas in a welcoming and fun environment through partnerships with community minded bodies. It aims to educate athletes on healthy lifestyle choices and helps them identify problems that may need additional follow-ups.
The different areas are Fit Feet (podiatry), FUNfitness (physical therapy), Health Promotion (better health and well-being), Healthy Hearing (audiology), MedFest (sports physical exam), Special Olympics-Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes (vision) and Special Smiles (dentistry).
“In return, we hope this partnership enriches our students with knowledge, experience, and desire to treat people with intellectual disabilities and become forceful advocates for meeting their needs,” he said. Dr Jacob is the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Special Smiles KL clinical director and Faculty of Dentistry UM-Special Olympics coordinator.
All activities related to the memorandum will involve Special Olympics Kuala Lumpur and UM.
“The Special Smiles programme kicked off recently with a Training the Trainers session for oral healthcare professionals conducted by Dr Lawrence Mah, the regional clinical advisor for Special Smiles, Special Olympics Asia Pacific. A comprehensive oral health screening took place on the next day at the Sports Centre at UM Arena,” said Jacob.
He said the oral health screening was a success with the participation of around 200 children with intellectual disability aged between seven to 18 years, their teachers/parents and healthcare volunteers.
Meanwhile, three more Special Smiles activities have been planned for the coming months, namely in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Kota Bharu on May 7 and Kuantan on Aug 13.
As part of the mutual understanding, Dr Jacob said UM intends to be involved in all seven Healthy Athletes disciplines in the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes programme. “We hope to achieve this target before the end of the year.”
On what sort of impact he hopes the activities have on the dental students and the target recipients involved, Dr Jacob said the intention is not only to serve the athletes but also train healthcare professionals who then go back to their practices with increased knowledge of and compassion for people with all types of disabilities.
“This has become more relevant because more than 1 billion people, or about 15 per cent of the world’s population, have some form of disability. Disability rates continue to rise globally due to increased life expectancy among children with disabilities and ageing populations, and a growth in prevalence and incidence of long-term health conditions,” he said.
Other than athletes with disabilities, Dr Jacob said UM’s Faculty of Dentistry has reached to various communities through its service learning programme — namely Orang Asli, prison inmates, institutionalised elderly and people with disabilities care homes.