Founded on the themes of eating well, moving well and feeling well, the “Enhancing Community Wellness Pilot Project” aims to improve the health and wellbeing of 150 persons from East Coast Demerara (ECD).
Facilitated by Roraima Learning Trust Inc. and funded by the Greater Guyana Initiative (GGI), the programme began aiding participants in June and will continue to do so until November.
The 150 persons between Plaisance and Enmore were divided into village groups and are learning to improve their diet, exercise habits and mental health by receiving relevant information on WhatsApp and Facebook groups.
During the project launch on Wednesday, Project Manager Stephen Patterson explained that the initiative sought to involve participants who reflect Guyana’s diverse demographics.
“The grouping itself as a whole should mirror Guyana’s population distribution in terms of the ethnicity, age, gender and level of income—the socioeconomic aspect of it as well,” Patterson explained.
The project uses waistline measurement and weight as signifiers of the participants’ progress.
“In addition to the social media grouping, we’ve begun to meet with them on a face-to-face basis where they get to interact with each other at the group level and also, we take measurements there just to monitor the progress over the pilot project period,” Patterson said.
The programme also involves collaboration with a number of pharmacies and supermarkets that are offering participants groceries and medical supplies at slightly reduced costs.
Patterson noted that by all indications, the project is moving in the right direction and is seeing positive results.
Turundai Cathrupaul of Lusignan received a prize for being the “Monthly Wellness Challenge” winner after losing 1 inch from her waist and the most weight among the cohort.
“I cut down on my eating and I’m always on the go. When I went on the scale, I was surprised [to see] I lost six pounds,” Cathrupaul said.
“It’s a wonderful programme and coming out of the meetings, I feel comfortable. I think more people should come on board,” Cathrupaul said, adding that it has been slightly challenging since she works and just had a baby seven months ago.
Meanwhile, Health Ministry representative, Dr. Michael Perreira noted that this programme is particularly important in decreasing the prevalence of chronic diseases in Guyana, given its high rate in the Americas for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
“With this initiative, we’re going to be targeting some of the risk factors that would promote these diseases,” Dr. Perreira said, noting that the eating well and nutrition component of the project will contribute to this.
Meanwhile, Patterson expressed hope to see this project expand countrywide, clarifying that this will require additional funding to make possible.
“Once we submit reports to GGI, who’s our primary funding agency, we’ll take it from there. The expectation is that once we get the results, we are looking forward to then we take the initiative to the national level,” Patterson said.
“The expectation is that people will make good use of the information we’re sharing with them, apply it and in some ways, see improvement in their overall well-being, waistline and weight,” Patterson added.
While the project expanding beyond these 150 persons is dependent on the success of this pilot, Patterson explained that for persons who are interested in participating in the future, they can express so to the Roraima Learning Trust Inc.
