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Community Engagement

FoN UI Conducts "STOP TB Menu" Web Application for Health Cadres in NTT​

Tuberculosis or what is often referred to as TB is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis which can be transmitted through splashes of saliva or phlegm that are released when a TB patient coughs or sneezes. Until now, TB is still a serious problem that requires joint handling in controlling its spread. Based on data from the TB Report 2020, Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest TB burden in the world with an estimated number of people falling ill due to TB to reach 845,000 with a death rate of 98,000 or equivalent to 11 deaths/hour. This will certainly have a fairly serious impact not only on TB sufferers but also their families and people around them. Nurses have preventive, curative, and promotive roles in dealing with TB cases. This disease needs to be detected early so that treatment can be started immediately and carried out in a disciplined manner. Nurses can also be educators to improve people’s cognitive abilities in order to improve their health status.

From this background, the Community Nursing Specialist student of the Faculty of Nursing, University of Indonesia (FoN UI), Syamikar Baridwan Syamsir, created the “STOP TB Menu” Web Application. This application was developed as an effort to control the spread of TB in the community through technology-based health education efforts, TB case finding, TB treatment appropriately and quickly, and maintaining treatment until recovered. The features in it include TB Health Education, TB Screening Menu, and TB Consultation Hot Line. This application is expected to be an innovation that helps improve the quality of health in Indonesia.

This application was introduced and disseminated to the public. One of them is through community service activities. The Community Service Team from the Department of Community Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Indonesia, chaired by Mr. Agus Setiawan, S.Kp., M.N., D.N (Dean of FoN UI) and involving several community specialist students and master of nursing held a community service activity with the title “Improvement of Cadre Capacity through the Utilization of Digital Technology “STOP TB Menu Application” in Improving Tuberculosis Case Findings at the Girlfriend Health Center, West Manggarai districts, NTT”. The activity was carried out on Saturday, August 13, 2022 in the Hall of the Community Health Center. The goal is to improve technological literacy and train cadres to be able to prevent TB by utilizing technology.

In addition to web application training, there are several activities carried out in the implementation of this community service activity, including brainstorming to listen to the challenges faced by health cadres and community leaders regarding the implementation of the Tuberculosis (TB) program in the community; education about the basic concepts of TB and its prevention and treatment, stigma and discrimination which are inhibiting factors in the implementation of TB programs in the community; and the importance of contact investigation in TB cases.

Furthermore, the FoN UI Service Team also demonstrated the use of the web-based TB Web Application “Menu STOP TB” to assist and facilitate cadres and community leaders in identifying people suspected of TB. The use of technology in preventing TB is very much needed in the current era.

The reason for choosing girlfriend village as a place of service is because the girlfriend health center is one of the health centers in the district. West Manggarai which already has a TCM (Rapid Molecular Test) tool which is used as a standard for TB diagnostic tests. This activity involved 30 participants from various elements or key figures in the working area of ​​the Paddy Health Center, namely Health Cadres, PKK Mobilization Teams, Village Heads and Community Leaders. This community service activity can improve the understanding and skills of cadres and community leaders in carrying out efforts to prevent TB transmission and also increase the number of TB case findings.

Participants were very enthusiastic about participating in community service activities carried out by FoN UI. It is hoped that this activity will not end here but will continue and the synergy between FoN UI and West Manggarai districts is still awake. This education and training is carried out to improve the cognitive and psychomotor abilities of the cadres to optimize the prevention and treatment of TB in Pacar Village.