On the beat in Dobsonville

The Heart of Soweto research team held a Heart Awareness Day at the Dobsonville Shopping Centre in Soweto on 9 November 2007.

There was a good turnout of people. By 2pm the team had attended to more than 160 patients. They were screened for high blood pressure, glucose, body mass index, cholesterol and microalbuminuria.

Sowetan local Jack Mokoena, 60, says he saw a tent in the shopping centre’s parking area and thought that people had to pay for whatever was going on until he asked. “They say I have too much cholesterol and my blood is also too high,” says Mokoena. As for the queue, he adds, “There is no hurry for your health; you must be patient for these things, it’s vital and important for my health.”

The focus of these Heart Awareness Days is on weight reduction and healthy eating. The events are aimed primarily at people living in townships.

The research team, located within the Cardiology Unit at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, first marked Heart Awareness Day on 26 May 2006 by visiting the taxi rank and open market opposite the hospital. It is one of the busiest taxi ranks in the world and is used by thousands of people from Soweto each day. The free health reviews offered to the public at this venue gave the team information about ordinary people who had not presented as patients and the researchers have been building on this information since then.

The director of the Soweto Cardiovascular Research Unit (Socru), Prof Karen Sliwa, says, “It’s been very successful. We have information on 2000 people. About 40% of them are not healthy and their biggest problem is that they are overweight.” She says it is because of these results that Socru holds Heart Awareness Days.

Sliwa says that in the beginning the unit had funding only for small projects and used that funding to come up with dietary information. When it got proper funding it decided to have Heart Awareness Days around Soweto, where it is based. “We got funding from Tiger Brands and Adcock Ingram to create awareness about health,” explains Sliwa.

“At first we didn’t know if people would come,” she adds. “Now people are interested but unfortunately our funding stops at the end of the year, and we have only one more Heart Awareness Day left.”

Professional nurse Bridget Phooko, who is doing clinical trials and is also a study co-ordinator, says, “When the patients finish checking up (answering questionnaires and full body check), they come to me and I assess them and refer them if they need further help. I refer them to Bara or their local clinic and if they need immediate attention, referral is done immediately.”

Dietician Sandra Pretorius says that following a food frequency study she did – finding out what people are eating – she developed recipes to show people how to lead a healthy lifestyle by eating well.

“I analysed the results of the study and found that the sodium and fat intake was too high and that women’s calcium and vitamin intake was too low. From there one can see the types of food that they choose at the moment and one can start a food programme which includes all the guidelines and also make it culturally sensitive,” says Pretorius.

Louisa Pitse, 68, was another “customer” at the Dobsonville Heart Awareness Day. “I always hear someone say there’s a tent and this person said they were taking X-rays and then I came and asked where the machines are,” she says.

Pitse says she is a patient at the Hillbrow clinic and just came “while waiting for my next check-up. I thought there would be no harm and they say I should just be careful of my salt intake.”
Thuso Lenamile, 26, says, “I feel good, very happy, I have no stress. I didn’t know about today but someone recommended that I come and I would also recommend that other people go. I think it’s very important.”

The Heart Awareness Days have been a success thus far. “We see a lot of people and we get very positive feedback. They come back and ask more questions and we also see them at follow-ups in Bara,” says Pretorius.

Phooko adds, “Our target is 200 people a day –  sometimes we get more and sometimes fewer.”

For more information on the study, visit the Heart of Soweto Study page.