Elderly Health Knowledge Contest

Can holding an elderly health knowledge contest really help the elderly put health knowledge into their minds and use it in their daily lives? The answer is yes, but the premise is that you have to get rid of the routine of "memorizing questions according to standard answers and following formalities according to procedures" and follow the real life of the elderly.

I helped organize this competition for a street near my home last fall, and there were several quarrels during the preparations. Sister Liu, who has worked in the community for more than ten years, insists on following the traditional process: all the questions are extracted from the original text of the "Health Guide for the Elderly in China", and the questions are selected and judged. The questions are answered in a closed book and ranked by points. There is no dispute about fairness and justice. But Dr. Zhang from the community hospital who we invited as a consultant slammed the table and said that this was purely useless work: "Now you have asked 100 questions about 'daily salt intake should not exceed 5 grams'. The old man knows it by heart. How much salt should I put in the pickles when I go home? What's the use?" ”

Both groups have their own reasons. In the end, we compromised and changed the rules: 70% of the questions were scenario questions, and the remaining 30% were practical questions, so there was no need to memorize them by rote. For example, one question was accompanied by real-life pictures: there were two-day-old braised pork on the dining table, a watermelon that had been cut and kept in the refrigerator for 12 hours, a health tea that "radically cures hypertension" just bought from a promotional stall in the community, and aspirin that was three months past its expiration date. The question asked, "Aunt Li, who has just picked up her grandson from school, is preparing to make lunch. Which of the above items should not be touched?" The practical questions are even simpler. You can perform the Heimlich maneuver on the simulator, measure your own fingertip blood sugar, and demonstrate how to pat your bedridden wife on the back to expel phlegm. The standard movements are considered correct.

Don't tell me, after the rules were changed, it became extremely lively. There were more than 80 old men and women who used to avoid the competition when they heard about it, but they took the initiative to sign up. There was an interesting episode at the scene: 72-year-old Uncle Li used to squeeze his finger hard when measuring blood sugar at home, and the measured value fluctuated. However, as soon as he squeezed his finger during the practical operation, Dr. Zhang stopped on the spot and corrected him. Following the standard procedure of "hanging the fingertips naturally, drying with alcohol before pricking, and discarding the first drop of blood without squeezing", after the competition, Uncle Li dragged Dr. Zhang to chat for half an hour, saying that in the past, every time he pricked his finger to measure blood sugar, his finger would be bruised and bruised, but this time he finally found the reason.

Of course, it is not without doubts. A week before the competition started, a family member came over and said that his mother-in-law stayed up until past two o'clock to memorize review questions, and her blood pressure rose to 150. Isn't this competition a burden to the elderly? We changed all the review materials into jingles on the same day, and played them on the community loudspeaker twice a day during meals. "Stroke 120 must be memorized. With a crooked face and hands hanging down, you cannot speak clearly."

Some people say that this kind of competition is purely formalistic, but I think it depends on what to do. I came across a competition held in another district last week, and the question was actually "How many milligrams of vitamin D should the elderly consume every day?" This kind of question that is out of touch with life, who can answer it except those who have studied it? In other places, in order to cope with inspections by superiors, several elderly people are asked to memorize the answers in advance. They then go through the scene and take two photos. The elderly people sit there all afternoon without memorizing anything. In the end, they carry two barrels of cooking oil home. This is a real waste of time.

What’s interesting is that we didn’t give rice cooking oil this time. The first prize was a customized classified medicine box, a smart blood pressure monitor with a medicine reminder, and a free community physical examination package for one year. The second and third prizes were also practical little things such as a nail clipper set and an anti-lost bracelet. Grandpa Chen, who won the award, put the medicine box in his pocket that day. He said that he always forgot to take his antihypertensive medicine before, but now his name is engraved on the medicine box and he can easily put it in his coat pocket. It is much more practical than giving two barrels of oil.

In fact, to put it bluntly, is there any unified standard for this kind of competition? In some places, the elderly love to sing Henan opera, so they compile health information into opera lyrics to compete with who can sing it accurately. ； In some places, the elderly love to dance square dances, and they choreograph first aid movements into dance steps. As long as the elderly people remember not to buy health care products indiscriminately, check the shelf life before taking medicine, and call 120 if something is not right, it is better than winning first prizes.