Improving Community Health for Healthy Aging
“Will they be lonely? Will they be left alone? What will they have for breakfast, lunch and dinner?”
Wassana Tadthong worries about her elderly neighbors who have no spouse, children, or siblings remaining. With no loved ones to turn to and a social safety
Health Official Learns Simple Steps to Active Aging
Just as someone who saves small amounts of money consistently from an early age can accumulate tremendous wealth for their retirement, one needs to build good health habits years and even decades in advance to maintain an active lifestyle in their senior years. The small daily choices one makes in
How One Unsung Hero is Transforming the Lives of the Elderly
Go to just about any secondary city, small town, or rural village in Thailand and you’ll notice something peculiar: nearly an entire generation is absent. You’ll see plenty of elderly people chatting outside their homes and young children playing in the schoolyard, but working aged adults are scarce. With few
Leader Uncovers New Ideas to Care for People with Disabilities
Before entering the 10th grade, healthcare worker Dr. Hoang Manh Hoai faced the most difficult decision of his young life. A horrible spell of weather had just wiped out all the crops on his family’s farm. Worsening matters, Hoai’s father had fallen dangerously ill. With the family’s sources of income
How One Teacher Became a Steward of Health and Happiness
As she made her daily rounds across the school grounds a few years ago, Ms. Anong became acutely aware of an alarming trend – Thai children cannot get enough sweets. While this may seem harmless at first glance, Ms. Anong believes that childhood obesity can be difficult to shake, and
What can one dedicated doctor do to change a community?
Dr. Ratana Monprajak has moved her office outside on a cool, refreshing morning in Bangkok. It’s Constitution Day, and schools and many businesses are closed. A mobile health clinic has been set up at the end of a tucked away soi. The area is buzzing. Kids laugh and ride bicycles
Cultivating change agents for a healthier tomorrow in Klong Toey
As Pa Moui strolls the six blocks of rough but rising Klong Toey housing that make up her community of Sangsan Pattana, neighbors look at her with recognition and respect. Although she “retired” five years ago from her 30-year career in social work, the 71-year-old now heads up the Promjai
Strengthening Health and Community in Klong Toey
Ms. Lamiad wades through a dimly lit alley in Klong Toey’s Phattanamai neighborhood. The ramshackle concrete walls of homes adorn her on both sides of the meter-wide path. Although the weather is hot and humid, and Lamiad is already feeling tired from a morning of delivering health and wellness visitations
Tackling the challenges of Thailand’s aging population
“Thailand’s population is rapidly aging and will have a huge impact on all of us.” said Siriwan Aruntippaitune, Expert on the Elderly at Thailand’s Department of Older Persons (DOP), “Many entities, including the media are frequently raising this topic to the public, however, most
Improving Community Health through Project-Based Learning
Implementing School-Based Behavior Change Communication to Fight Malaria
“I’ve learned a lot about malaria through this youth camp,” said Azeem, a fifth-grade student at Ban Mae Usu Witthaya School in Thailand’s Tak province. The camp was part of the Global Fund for Malaria Thailand project, implemented by Kenan, which is