Community health outreach programs remain critical part of CCDC policy

Since its founding in 1993, Cordillera Career Development College has established and sustained a good relationship with its host communities.

CCDC firmly regards the communities as critical partners in providing holistic, accessible and inclusive learning experiences to students, molding them into culturally sensitive and responsible global citizens and leaders.

As such, the institution provides multi-faceted outreach programs and events to help improve and capacitate its host communities in various areas such as in health, sports, laws, economics, and local governance.

Among the institutional programs CCDC practice are the conduct of health and well-being promotions through information campaigns and collaborations to deliver medical interventions.

CCDC’s College of Health Education leads most of the activities towards this endeavor, deploying students under the Nursing and Midwifery degree programs on supervised activities and in partnership outreach events with local government units and non-profit organizations.

LOCAL COMMUNITIES

In October 2024, student nurses under the Nursing degree program conducted an educational class on residents of Shilan, a community in La Trinidad Benguet.

Dubbed “Mother’s Class Activity on Family Planning and Cervical Cancer Screening,” the whole-day event intended to bring essential health services closer to the community. 

The student nurses conducted lectures on family planning options such as injectables, condoms, pills, and implant insertion, as well as on Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA), empowering women to make informed decisions about their reproductive health.

Such kind of initiative strengthens primary health care by promoting responsible parenthood, and supporting early detection of cervical cancer. 

In December 2024, another batch of student nurses joined the Rural Health Unit of the local government of La Trinidad, Benguet in conducting AIDS awareness lecture and HIV screening to the community.

The event, held in celebration of the World AIDS Day, provided free opportunities for members of the community to avail of health service.

DISADVANTAGED PEOPLE

CCDC also puts a prime on delivering and engaging communities with disadvantaged people as part of its policy to uplifting its host communities.

CCDC’s host communities are dominantly Indigenous Cultural Communities which are primarily agriculture-dependent localities.

To help ensure that these vulnerable communities also have access to health information and services, CCDC partnered with the local government of La Trinidad and Medical Outreach Missions Fellowship Initiative of Saint Louis University to conduct an Optical, Medical, and Dental Mission on September 10 at Bineng, an outskirt community in La Trinidad.

Supervised by their Internship Instructor, student nurses under the Nursing degree program assisted in patient assessment, vital signs monitoring, health education, medication distribution, and crowd management. 

The participation of students in supervised outreach activities enhanced their skills in health promotion, patient education, and community engagement. In doing so, they foster trust with community members and help address their pressing health needs.

Lastly, proper handwashing remains one of the simplest yet most effective ways to prevent the spread of illnesses. Recognizing its importance, nursing students assigned in Atok, Benguet conducted a school nursing activity focused on demonstrating proper hand hygiene among elementary learners in the community.

The initiative aimed to raise awareness on the role of handwashing in preventing common infections, especially among school-age children who are frequently exposed to various disease-causing microorganisms in their daily environment. Since young learners are at higher risk due to frequent hand-to-mouth contact and shared school materials, this activity aligned well with the students’ community health and preventive care objectives.

During the session, the nursing students discussed the significance of proper hand hygiene, emphasizing when and why handwashing is necessary based on the WHO’s Five Moments for Hand Hygiene. The learners were also guided through proper handwashing steps to ensure complete cleansing of the hands.

To make the activity more engaging, the nursing students used visual aids and interactive strategies. Songs and simple rhymes were incorporated to help the children remember the handwashing steps more easily. The learners actively participated, practicing the techniques and asking questions about how germs spread and why the use of soap is essential in removing them.

Overall, the demonstration proved meaningful in reinforcing good hygiene practices among young children, fostering healthier behaviors that contribute to disease prevention within their homes, schools, and the wider community.

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