A Diabetes Management System developed by Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology College of Nursing Faculty Member Geraldine Ridad has won the 3-Minute Pitch to Policymakers Competition hosted by the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD).
Ridad’s contest entry, DiaBEHT, addresses the need for a better self-care management approach to diabetes given the fact that the Philippines is considered a diabetes hotspot with more than five million diagnosed cases of diabetes with an increasing rate of cases.
Ridad’s research aims to increase a diabetic patient’s confidence in managing his/her diabetes.
It has three components, namely:
- weekly support group activities and lecture series on diabetes
- installation and use of the DiabEHT mobile app
- installation of “diabooth” in a health center
Ridad reports that after six weeks of project implementation, the participants have shown significant improvement in their self-care activities in terms of general diet, physical activities, blood glucose monitoring, and foot-care.
Their blood glucose levels were also significantly reduced, which means that the project has a significant improvement in the participants’ glycemic control.
Geraldine Ridad’s research won Php30,000 as the winner of the 3-Minute Pitch to Policymakers Competition streamed live on YouTube n August 13, 2020.
DOST says Ridad is now reaching out to the Department of Health (DOH) to help her conduct a comparative study to better determine the effectiveness of the mobile application in attaining desired outcomes for patients with diabetes.
Other winners of the pitch competition include the following:
- Dr. Hazel Anne L. Catublas from the National Capital Region (NCR) in second place, with her research study entitled “Bridging the Gap for the Improvement of Access to Healthcare of the Filipino Deaf Community”.
- Michael G. Bacus from Region XI was awarded third place with his research study entitled “Healthy Nature for Healthy People”.
- Dr. Ronnel dela Rosa from Region III won the People’s Choice Award after garnering 28.4% of online votes during the event. His policy pitch was entitled “Smoke-Free City Living and Tobacco-Free Generation in the City of Balanga”.
University of Santo Tomas DOST scholar Dr. Maria Ruth Pineda-Cortel’s diabetes study vied for the 2020 ASEAN-U.S. Science Prize.
DOST-SETUP’s partner in Davao had also developed a coronavirus immunity-boosting drinks from local ingredients.
SEND CONGRATULATIONS in the comments below to Mindanao State University’s Geraldine Ridad for developing the Diabetes Management System that won the 3-Minute Pitch to Policymakers competition.
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