UNAIR NEWS – Raising the issue of mental health and anemia in adolescents, UNAIR FKM Banyuwangi lecturers held a community service. There were Septa Indra Puspikawati, S.KM., M.PH as the chairman of the community service and her team consisting of Susy Katikana Sebayang, SP., MSc., Ph.D and Desak Made Sintha Kurnia Dewi, S.KM., M.Kes. The community service event took place online via Zoom Meeting on Saturday morning, August 28, 2021.
The Community Service entitled “Nutrition Education on Anemia and Mental Health Counseling for Adolescents through Peer-to-Peer Program” was organized as a webinar on “Adolescents with Good Mental Health and No Anemia.” Focusing on a youth-focused theme, the webinar invited students from SMPN 1 Banyuwangi as the participants.
“I think the theme chosen is quite good and relevant in this pandemic situation because it’s been almost a year and a half for the youngsters here to carry out online learning activities. So maybe they want to interact offline with their friends. The challenge in this pandemic is, of course, our physical health, but there is also mental health that we must pay attention to,” said Trias Mahmudiono, SKM., MPH., GCAS., Ph.D in his speech as Vice Dean III of Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Airlangga.
The webinar also presented two speakers who are experts in their fields. Rahayu Siswati, S.GZ from the Banyuwangi District Health Office presented “Adolescent Compliance in Consumption of Iron Supplements,” while Adreina Marcelina, S.Psi., C.Fc talked about “Early Detection of Adolescent Mental Health.”
Knowing the character of junior high school students who get bored easily, the committee had prepared an animated video related to the webinar topic so that the participants understood more about the material presented. Pre- and post-tests were also conducted to measure the participants’ knowledge as an indicator of the event’s success.
In addition to the webinar, the community service will provide a training on how to become peer cadres in schools. Some of the best students will be appointed directly by the school to participate in the training, guided by Sobat Sebaya, one of the organizations at UNAIR Banyuwangi that focuses on adolescent mental health. With the cadre training, these students can provide knowledge about mental health and anemia to their peers.
Hopefully, the webinar participants, who can be categorized as early-stage teenagers, can understand more about mental health and anemia issues. So, this activity will help reduce the level of mental disorders and anemia in adolescents during the pandemic.
Author: Tyas Ratna Manggali
Editor: Nuri Hermawan (YA/AP)
