The drive this morning took us north beyond the province of Bangkok and into Pathum Thani. It was an enjoyable drive with changing landscapes, vast street vendors, and a display of extreme living conditions.
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| 52/347 Muang Ake, Phaholyothin Road, Lak Hok, Pathum Thani 12000 |
In the cafe we were met by Jeffrey Wollentin, the Director of International Affairs. He was extremely welcoming and lead us to the board room where we were then introduced to the Assistant to the President for Internationalisation, Jeroen Schedler. He opened the presentation with an extremely interesting and educating talk about Thailand and Pattaya as he was made aware of our visit, and empowered us to be adaptable, accepting, and culturally competent people. A great example he used is as follows: a meeting may be scheduled for 10am, yet Thais may arrive any time after 10:15am. Is that annoying and frustrating because they are not on time? Or is it smart and advantageous because it's give people time to talk, network and share ideas, resulting in a smooth-running meeting? Morale of the story - be open-minded to different ways of doing things, develop strategies and coping mechanisms, and not block our minds with opinions and miss potential opportunities and experiences.
The presentation went on to introduce the history of RSU and the courses it provides. RSU is one of six universities/colleges to offer an International Nursing Program in Thailand - these programs are classified as 'International' as they incorporate English into their teaching. However, RSU is the only institution to offer a unique overseas component, with students completing their fourth year of study in Sweden.
Rangsit University history:
- Opened in 1986 as Rangsit College, only accepting 50 nursing students
- In 2000, the Exchange Nursing Program started
- In 2002, the Master Degree Nursing Program commenced
- 2010 marked the beginning of the Double Degree Nursing Program, containing an extra 20 credit of English
- Following the floods in late 2011, the gardens were spray painted in preparation for early 2012 graduation ceremonies
Bilingual Double Degree 4-year Nursing Program
The double degree is made possible with cooperation between the School of Nursing at Rangsit University, Thailand (RSU) & School of Health, Care, and Social Welfare at Malardalen University, Sweden (MDU). Total tuition fees: 720,000 THB
The two degrees studied are a Bachelor of Nursing Science (RSU) & a Bachelor of Science in Caring Science (MDU). The structure provides good value and balance containing anatomy, physiology and pharmacology from RSU, and 'caring science' and the art of nursing from MDU. The fourth year of the program is taught in Sweden. English is used in the general education and elective courses, and bilingual language is used in the 'Foundation' and 'Nursing' courses at 50/50 in proportion.
Thai teaching staff
A Student Nursing Council handles affairs on campus. Thai teaching staff require at least a Masters Degree to be able to teach at the university. As well as maintaining Thai culture and traditions, they work with international staff to help introduce and foster new ideas.
Dr. Kaitsara Sen-Ngam, Assistant Professor of the Bilingual Program, and Pranee Tudsri (RN, MA) then gave presentations about the current health of Thailand and child health care. I found this to be the most educational presentation of our Experiential Program and found it interesting to learn about the health of a developing country. I will share some information below.
Health of the population of Thailand
- 0-14 years of age = 25.5% of population
- 15-59 years of age = 67.4% of population
- > 60 years of age = 11.1% of population, expected to reach 14% by 2015
- Life expectancy of males in 1964 was only 55.9, increased to 70.6 in 2010 and is estimated to be 76 in 2030
- Life expectancy of females in 1964 was 62, increased to 77.5 in 2010 and is estimated to be 82.7 in 2030
- The elderly are cared for by their families, with many families living in multi-generational arrangements, thus decreasing the burden on the health care system and reducing the risk of hospital-acquired infections
- An arising problem is increasing depression due to decreasing socialisation of the elderly
- Nursing homes do exist but only for the very sick when families are unable to assume care
Major causes of death
The leading cause of death of males and females is cerebrovascular disease, 9.4% and 11.3% respectively. This is followed by road traffic accidents, AIDS and ischaemic heart disease for males (8.1%, 7.9% and 6.4%), and diabetes, ischaemic heart disease and undefined causes for females (8.0%, 7.5% and 7.2%). These causes are not too different from those in Australia. The major causes of death among 0-14 years are perinatal asphyxia, birth trauma, road traffic accident and accidental drownings, and among 15-49 years is HIV/AIDS and road traffic accidents, highlighting a population at risk of HIV/AIDS infection. We were told by Dr. Kaitsara that currently the US has a vaccine for HIV in the works...
Risk behaviours of children and adolescents are eating behaviours, sexual behaviours (thus HIV), drug addiction, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and driving behaviour. There are multiple health problems as a result of communicable and non-communicable diseases: diarrhea, acute respiratory infection (with pneumonia being the number one cause of death in infants), dengue haemorrhagic fever, encephalitis, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, as well as low birth weight and premature births, obesity, malnutrition, dental caries, asthma, cancer, renal disease, blood disorders, pollution, car accidents, water-related accidents, and mental health problems. Drownings in Thailand are largely related to low safety standards and this can be seen by children swimming in rivers and canals unsupervised and with no barriers to prevent entry to the water. This may be due to the water being an important transport route in Thailand. There are also currently no government campaigns or programs. As I have mentioned in a past post, mental illness are still taboo in Thai culture with many individuals seeking help the traditional way. With temples still the first stop for those experiencing mental and emotional ailments, awareness of mental illnesses is slowly increasing in Thailand and the Bachelor of Nursing Science includes 6 credits of study about mental illness. Wat Pho is an example of such a temple that contains monks who may specialise in medicine, meditation and oriental medicine.
Health service system in Thailand
Family-centred care
It has been recognised that the family is the major participant in the assessment and treatment of a child and adolescent. Families have the right and responsibility to participate individually and collectively in determining and satisfying the health care needs of their child.
Primary care
For primary care to be successful it must be accessible, holistic and provide continuity of treatment. Use of appropriate technology allows responses to reflect the changing health needs of the community and individuals.
Child health services
Antenatal care:
- Health promotion, preventative health services and health education
- Prevention and treatment of anaemia
- Tetanus toxoid immunisation
Postnatal care:
- Promote breastfeeding
- Nutrition assessment
- Lifestyle and emotional counselling
- Family planning
Child health care (0-5):
- Immunisation completion
- Promotion of good nutrition and eating habits
- Assessment of growth and development
- Home visits
It was then time for lunch where there was a huge buffet put on for us and we were able to sit and converse with some of the current nursing students of the university. We had some students sing their nursing song to us in Thai and handover beautiful flowers as a welcome gift, and then had a quick tour around the School of Nursing and were shown some of their clinical laboratory rooms which were quite impressive. Again, I instantly felt like friends with these students thanks to the common interest and passion in nursing. They were all so eager to talk to us and practice their English communication.
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