Islamic boarding schools with a dormitory concept are a crowded environment and they have the potential to spread infectious diseases, such as scabies. One way to prevent this disease can be done through implementing Clean and Healthy Living Behavior (PHBS). For this reason, Universitas Indonesia (UI) through the Faculty of Medicine (FK) carries out PHBS counseling activities as well as health checks for students and administrators of the Al-Wutsqo Islamic Boarding School, Depok, West Java.
This community service activity was chaired by Sasanthy Kusumaningtyas, S.Si., M.Biomed who is the Chair of the FKUI Anatomy Department. This activity involved lecturers, education staff (tendik), and FKUI students. The lecturers consisted of dr. Isabella Kurnia Liem, Ph.D., PA.; Deswaty Furqonita, M. Biomed; and drg. Haamid Hasan Haikal, M.Sc. The sttaff included Dini Fitriyanti, M.Si.; Aldila Amini Nasrul, S.Si.; Amaliatu Rosyidah, S.K.M.; and Rafika Bunga Sofia Aruan, S.K.M. Meanwhile, the students consisted of Firda Asma’ul Husna, M.Biomed and Milya Urfa Ahmad, S.Si.
According to Sasanthy, efforts to improve PHBS in the Islamic boarding school environment cannot be done with just one outreach, but must be continuous. This is intended so that health problems that are threatening or currently being faced by students can be addressed. Therefore, counseling and inspection activities are carried out continuously from August to November 2023.
“In August, the Service Team carried out counseling and the first health examination. Then, in September, we conducted outreach accompanied by monitoring program progress and the formation of health cadres. Until the end of November, we carried out counseling as well as evaluations and health checks for the students,” said Sasanthy.
From the results of the program evaluation, it was found that there was a reduction of 66.7% in cases of scabies and 72.7% in cases of head lice in female students compared to the initial figures. However, despite progress, the team admits it is difficult to achieve a 100% reduction. This is due to several factors, including a lack of awareness of PHBS, habit factors, and facility factors.
One member of the Service Team, Deswaty, said that awareness of the importance of maintaining PHBS in the Islamic boarding school environment needs to be increased to prevent the spread of disease. “Maintaining PHBS can be done by maintaining personal hygiene, such as bathing twice a day with soap, changing clothes every day, drying towels after use, and not borrowing personal items such as combs. Apart from that, students should sleep on separate beds. Ventilation and sunlight in the room must also be considered. Students need to keep the dormitory and environment clean to prevent infectious diseases,” said Deswaty.
Regarding the implementation of this activity, the representative from Al-Wutsqo Islamic Boarding School, Topik Muntaka, said, “We are grateful to the UI Team for collaborating with Al-Wutsqo Islamic Boarding School in preventing scabies infections. Thanks to this program, children who previously experienced itching received free medicine, including flea medicine and skin medicine. We also appreciate the basic food assistance provided. Hopefully, Al-Wutsqo’s collaboration with UI will not stop here,” he said.
This community service activity was supported by grant funds from the UI Community Service and Empowerment Program (PPM) 2023, number: 84/UN2.PPM/HKP.05.00/2023, as well as support from JT Clinic. Through this activity, it is hoped that the knowledge of students in Depok City about PHBS can increase, so that students are able to implement clean and healthy living behavior in the Islamic boarding school environment.
