1st meeting with community leaders of Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B

The community leaders were invited for the 1st meeting with EMPOWERED to discuss plans for the Colorectal Cancer Campaign in Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B. Those who were present are the committee members of Persatuan Penduduk Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A, Persatuan Penduduk Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3B and Persatuan Ibu Tunggal Semua Kaum Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & B. Also present was a representative from our main sponsor of this project, Yayasan Sime Darby and some of our community project volunteers.

Pre-starters of the meeting included light snacks served, courtesy of EMPOWERED and prepared by the local residents alongside happy chatters from all present.

The matters discussed during this meeting included confirmation of dates, times, venues from every activity for this campaign; confirmation of logistical details and communication materials as well as recruitment for community volunteers.

This fruitful meeting ended with its objectives achieved through the agenda that was discussed. The community leaders were also informed that they would be given a schedule with necessary information for all the community activities leading to the Colorectal Cancer Awareness & Screening Days.

Briefing for community volunteers at Dewan Ibu Tunggal, Blok 64, Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3B, Cheras

EMPOWERED carried out a briefing and training session for the community volunteers for the upcoming 1st door knock exercise which was planned for 29th Feb 2014. This briefing session was attended by around 36 community volunteers, community leaders as well as the new DBKL officer of Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3B, Cheras. It was carried out from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the 18th February 2014 at Dewan Ibu Tunggal, Blok 64 of Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3B, Cheras.

The briefing started with registration and giving out of EMPOWERED’s colorectal cancer campaign t-shirts to the community volunteers.

Mr. Fung Teck Hong, project head of EMPOWERED was the presenter for the training session. It started off with the introduction of EMPOWERED and how our colorectal cancer campaigns are methodically usually carried out. This objective of this training is to ensure that the community volunteers would provide the necessary support to EMPOWERED’s student volunteers from the International Medical University. Mr. Fung reiterated that the close involvement of the community leaders is integral to the success of this mass program.

The training session ended with a dialogue between the community volunteers and EMPOWERED’s representatives. Light snack was prepared by leaders of Persatuan Ibu Tunggal Semua Kaum Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B, Cheras.

1st training workshop for International Medical University student volunteers

The first training workshop conducted for International Medical University (IMU) student volunteers was carried out on the 19th February 2014 at Lecture Hall 3.05 LTI at the IMU campus in Bukit Jalil. Registration of student volunteers started around 5.45 pm and the training proper started at 6.30 p.m. There were 61 student volunteers, 2 student leaders and a student coordinator who were present for the training workshop. All students were given the training materials upon registration.

Mr. Fung Teck Hong, the project head of EMPOWERED was the presenter for the training workshop. It started off with the introduction of EMPOWERED and how our colorectal cancer campaigns are methodically carried out as most of the student volunteers are volunteering in EMPOWERED for the first time.

This goal of this training session was to train the student volunteers on the objectives and processes of EMPOWERED’s door knock activity. The student volunteers were divided into 9 teams according to the door-knock plan for the role-playing exercise. Role-play is vital as the practice helps the students familiarize with the door knocking process, gain confidence and become fluent with the script in Bahasa Malaysia. This role-play kick started with a demonstration by previous student volunteers with the assistance of the representative from Yayasan Sime Darby.

After almost an hour of taking turns to practice for the role-playing session, the students were given reminders for the door-knock day on the 26th February 2014. The training workshop ended around 9 p.m.

1st Door Knock Exercise at Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah

The first door knock exercise was carried out on the 26th February 2014 in Seri Sabah, Cheras. The student volunteers from the International Medical University arrived in 2 buses at 7 p.m. There were 24 student volunteers assigned for Seri Sabah 3A and 30 student volunteers for Seri Sabah 3B. The student volunteers were ushered to their respective areas and given short briefing and reminders of their responsibilities. They were also distributed volunteer name tags as well as door knock spreadsheets which would be used to collect information from the residents during this door knock exercise. For Seri Sabah 3A which consist of 4 residential blocks, there were 12 teams of student volunteers assigned for this door knock. Each of this team was accompanied by a community volunteer dressed with EMPOWERED’s colorectal cancer campaign t-shirts. These teams were monitored by 2 pairs of student volunteers or EMPOWERED staff to ensure that the exercise was going according to plan.

Seri Sabah 3B has 5 residential blocks. 15 teams of student volunteers were assigned for this door knock exercise, accompanied by 1 to 2 community volunteers in EMPOWERED’s colorectal cancer campaign t-shirts. The monitoring process was performed by 3 pairs of student volunteers or EMPOWERED staff & a representative of Yayasan Sime Darby.

The 27 teams of students managed to knock on all doors (1836 units). 597 doors did not open as the residents were not around. Among the 1239 doors that opened, 823 units have residents who are above 50 years of age and qualified to join for this colorectal cancer campaign. Residents from 779 units showed interest and submitted their names. There were 1133 names of above 50 residents obtained.

It was almost 11 p.m. when all the teams submitted their data collected door knock spreadsheets and leftover materials to the student leaders in charge. Despite this exercise being a challenging task, the students managed to help EMPOWERED achieve the objectives of this exercise. The community volunteers were also very keen to help and their assistance managed to ensure that this exercise was performed in a safe, effective and efficient manner.

2nd meeting with community leaders of Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B

The community leaders and community volunteers were invited for the 2nd meeting with EMPOWERED to discuss further plans for the Colorectal Cancer Campaign in Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B. The meeting gathered around 50 committee members and community volunteers from Persatuan Penduduk Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A, Persatuan Penduduk Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3B and Persatuan Ibu Tunggal Semua Kaum Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah.

The meeting started around 9 p.m. Matters of discussion include: results from the 1st door knock exercise that recently took place on the 26th of February, upcoming door knock exercises and plans, programs and schedules as well as logistic details for Awareness & Screening Days, and plans for collection of FIT kits from residents & the release of results of whether blood was detected in the stool samples that were collected.

This meeting was very successful with the cooperation from those who attended it and ended with light refreshments served, courtesy of EMPOWERED and prepared by the community residents. The end of this evening was filled with socialisation among community members and EMPOWERED staff members.

2nd training workshop for International Medical University student volunteers

EMPOWERED carried out the second training for International Medical University (IMU) student volunteers on the 13th March 2014. A total number of 82 students gathered at the Lecture Hall 3.04, IMU campus in Bukit Jalil. This 2nd training was attended by Yayasan Sime Darby’s representative as well. After registration and distribution of general plenary notes, our project coordinator, Mr. Fung Teck Hong gave a brief run through of the training’s agenda as well as a general introduction to EMPOWERED and the overview of the colorectal cancer project in Seri Sabah.

Dr. Christina Ng gave a short lecture on colorectal cancer for the benefit of the volunteers to further understand about this type of cancer. Mr. Fung Teck Hong, project coordinator of EMPOWERED was the presenter for the brief run through on door knocking before the volunteers were divided into groups based on their duties for the Screening Day (Registrars & FIT Kit instructors) or for new volunteers to be trained specifically for the 2nd door knock.

This training is to train new student volunteers on EMPOWERED’s 2nd door knock activity, its objectives and processes as well as to train those who were involved in the 1st door knock activity and as a pre-requisite chosen to be registrars and FIT Kit instructors.

During the break out group, 40 student volunteers who will be registrars on the Colorectal Cancer Screening Day on the 20th April stayed back in the lecture hall. Dr. Christina Ng presented a training for these volunteers to prepare them for to be registrars for the Screening Day. This training serves as the 1st part of a 2-part training which will resume on the 16th April 2014.

14 student volunteers proceeded to room 1.09 with Mr. Fung Teck Hong to be trained as Faecal Immunohistochemical Test (FIT) Kit instructors for the Screening Day. They were distributed sample FIT kits and play dough to learn how to use these kits in order for them to be teaching the residents on how to collect their stool samples during the screening day.

Student volunteers who are involved in the Screening Day as ‘Registrars’ and ‘FIT Kit Instructors’ should have attended the 1st training and volunteered at the 1st door knock activity prior to this 2nd training.

The remaining of the students who are new to this project proceeded to Room 1.08 for a door knock briefing with Vicky Ang and later formed groups for role-playing under the supervision of assisting student leaders.

The students were respectively given reminders on the door-knock or next training at the end of this training and signed out at the different training areas. The training ended around 9.30 p.m.

2nd Door Knock Exercise at Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah

EMPOWERED carried out the second door knock exercise at Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B on 19th March 2014. The student volunteers arrived promptly at 6.45 p.m. and were given out materials for the door knock which are the door knock spreadsheets which were previously used for the 1st door knock, flyers for the colorectal cancer campaign as well as door knock scripts.

There were 29 student volunteers assigned for Seri Sabah 3A, accompanied by a community volunteer and 30 student volunteers assigned for Seri Sabah 3B, accompanied by 2 community volunteers. These student volunteers are divided into teams of 2 – 3 students and their community volunteer(s). Each team is assigned to knock on the doors that previously did not open during the 1st door knock with a coverage area of 5 – 6 floors per team. The community volunteers were clad in EMPOWERED’s colorectal cancer campaign shirts whereas all student volunteers wore EMPOWERED volunteer name tags. The monitoring process was performed by 7 student leaders and EMPOWERED staff to ensure that the student volunteers were performing as they were trained.

The 27 teams of students were tasked to knock on 597 doors during this door knock as these doors previously did not open during the 1st door knock. This door knock resulted to 123 doors that were knocked on which opened and provided 165 names of residents above 50 years and who are qualified to join for this colorectal cancer campaign. The teams submitted their data collected through the door knock spreadsheets that were filled up to the student leaders in charge. The door knock exercise ended at 10 p.m.

These door knock activities have proved fruitful with overwhelming responses from the community and our volunteers. Through this publicity stint, 1517 units have been informed of EMPOWERED’s colorectal cancer campaign that is happening in Seri Sabah as well as advocated on the fast facts on colorectal cancer. All units (1836 units) including doors that did not open have received 2 flyers each from the 1st and 2nd door knock.

In total for both 1st and 2nd door knocks, a number of 1298 potential residents qualify to join this colorectal cancer campaign and have submitted their names which is an indication of their interest to join this campaign. There are also 75 residents who did not give their names but as they are above 50 years of age, they are also qualified to join this campaign.

3rd training workshop for International Medical University student volunteers

7th April 2014

EMPOWERED carried out our 3rd training for International Medical University (IMU) student volunteers on the 7th March 2014 at a classroom on the 4th floor of IMU’s campus in Bukit Jalil. Registration of student volunteers started around 6 pm and the training proper started at 6.30 p.m. There were 81 student volunteers, 8 student leaders and a student coordinator who were present for the training. As how all trainings are carried out, handouts were given upon registration of the students.

Mr. Fung Teck Hong, project manager of EMPOWERED gave the basic introduction of EMPOWERED as well as EMPOWERED’s mission and previous colorectal cancer awareness & screening workshops for the benefit of the student volunteers volunteering for the first time.

Ms. Goh Mei Yi, project officer of EMPOWERED presented to the student volunteers on the overview of the Awareness Day. She also showed the overview map of the Awareness Day especially areas where the events will take place, for example, the hall and the registration area.

The volunteers were then introduced to their group leaders. The volunteers are divided into different groups with different responsibilities. These subgroups are: Registrars, Block Ushers, Ushers, Traffic Ushers, Queue Ushers, Lucky Draw Volunteers, Goodie Bag Volunteers & Hall Ushers.

The areas where different groups of volunteers were located at were introduced as well as the different responsibilities for each role. They were also introduced on the different materials and project collaterals that they will be working with to further familiarize themselves.

The training ended with the dissemination of contact information for different student leaders and the students were reminded of important information on the Awareness Day.

Preparatory Activities & Mock Up for Awareness Day

12th April 2014

On the morning of 12th April 2014, a big group of 33 student and community volunteers & 5 EMPOWERED staff gathered with their strength and positive spirits to transport and pack more than 500 goodie bags which is to be distributed for the expected 500 participants from Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B who will be joining EMPOWERED for the 2014 Colorectal Cancer Awareness Day Workshop.

The day started with the transporting of a 3 tonne lorry full of boxes of sponsored goodie bag items from EMPOWERED’s office in Damansara Intan to the Dewan Ibu Tunggal at Block 64 of Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3B. The student volunteers formed human chains to pass along boxes after boxes of items to equally divide the share for this heavy work task. This method of human chain and boxes passing continued upon delivery of the boxes at Dewan Ibu Tunggal.

The boxes were then systematically arranged inside the dewan to ensure that the packing process will go smoothly. This included heavier items to be packed below. A briefing on packing was carried out prior to the actual packing of the items. Clear instructions and labels of the contents of the boxes were created prior to this packing day to help volunteers understand the packing process easily.

After the goodie bags were packed, student volunteers left but student leaders and EMPOWERED’s staff stayed back for the dry run of the Awareness Day Workshop. This is to ensure that the events management company and staff members know exactly what is happening and what to everyone’s roles and responsibilities are. It was also an opportunity to check on the set up of furniture and materials for Awareness Day as well as to play the sounds and visuals for the entire program to ensure that everything is set for the Launch Event and Awareness Day Workshop the following morning.

4th training workshop for International Medical University student volunteers

16th April 2014

The 4th student training for International Medical University (IMU) student volunteers was carried out on the 16th April 2014. A total number of 108 students gathered at the Lecture Hall 3.04, IMU campus in Bukit Jalil. This training was assisted by 3 student leaders. After registration and distribution of general plenary notes, our project manager, Mr. Fung Teck Hong gave a very brief run through of the training’s agenda as well as a general introduction to EMPOWERED and the overview of the colorectal cancer project in Seri Sabah.

The registrars for the screening day were trained by Dr. Christina and stayed back in the lecture hall. They went through the 8 steps for the registration process required for the residents to be registered during the screening day. There were also role-playing sessions to ensure that the questions asked for the different steps were accurate as well as the presentation of these questions. As the registrars play very significant roles to ensure that the Screening Day Workshop is a success, there were many specifications that the students had to adhere to which include the way they structure the questions, their intonation and the use of certain key words. This break out group ended past 9.45 pm.

Mr. Fung was the facilitator for the FIT Kit instructors. After a brief recap of the roles and responsibilities of the FIT Kit instructors as well as updates on minor changes, there was an example role-playing session for one of the student volunteers. The group was later split into 2 groups(Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B) with 7 FIT Kit instructors on each side. The subgroups continued to role-play to ensure that all FIT Kit instructors are familiar with the information that should be delivered to the residents on the day. This is to ensure that all residents will know how to use the FIT Kits that they are given to ensure a good return-rate during when the FIT Kits will be returned as well as to make sure that the sample of stool given is valid and not spoiled. The group dispersed at approximately 9.30 p.m.

Concurrently, Ms. Goh Mei Yi was at classroom 1.09 with the group of students who will be ushers and door knockers during the Screening Day. The roles and responsibilities of the 2 different roles we briefed before the group dispersed at 9 p.m.

Preparatory Activities for Screening Day

19th April 2014

A group of 25 student volunteers from IMU as well as Yayasan Sime Darby’s scholars gathered at Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B to unload 600 bags of 5kg rice. 400 bags were unloaded at Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3B followed by another 200 bags at Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A.

Human chain that started from the delivery truck trailed its way to the respective community halls to be used for the following day’s Colorectal Cancer Screening Workshop. These rice bags will be given to every successfully registered participant to further attract participation from the community.

The rice bags were carefully arranged in neat stacks and their numbers recounted to make sure that the right amount was delivered. After an hour or so of hard work and cooperation from the hardworking volunteers, the rice bags were ready to be distributed for the coming day’s workshop.

EMPOWERED’s Colorectal Cancer Screening Day 2014

20th May 2014

EMPOWERED’S 2014 Colorectal Cancer Screening Workshop was conducted respectively at Dewan Blok 54 for Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & Dewan Blok 66 for Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3B.

Each screening area was supervised by EMPOWERED’s staff members and the screening process was run with the help of IMU student volunteers who were divided into different subgroups. Dewan 54 of Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A was supported by 18 registrars, 7 FIT kit instructors, 18 ushers and 8 door knockers. At the other side, Dewan 66 of Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3B was supported by 20 registrars, 7 FIT kit instructors, 18 ushers and 9 door knockers.

The screening workshop started promptly at 11 a.m. There were already long lines of enthusiastic and qualified participants waiting outside the hall. Participants can only join this screening workshop if they are 50 years and above or have direct family members with history of colorectal cancer, residents of Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A or 3B and Malaysian citizens.

Ushers were on standby outside and at the entrance of the hall to ensure that only qualified participants are registered. Malay, Tamil, Mandarin and Cantonese registrars and FIT kit instructors ensured that the participants could understand the questions and instructions clearly.

Each participant would initially meet with a registrar for a one to one session to give information about themselves, their lifestyle and habits as well as their health history. Upon successful registration, participants were given a FIT kit with their names labeled on the the kit and a FIT kit instructional manual. They were then ushered to wait for their turns to be taught how to use these FIT kits at the FIT kit instructional area. Each FIT kit instructor would explain on what colorectal cancer is, the risk factors of colorectal cancer, methods of detection and how to use the FIT kits. They were also given instruction on when to return their stool samples back to EMPOWERED for subsequent tests at the laboratory. A FIT kit instructor would explain to up to 4 participants per session.

The FIT kit in a sealed and small bag would then be packed in a A4-size plastic bag together with the FIT kit instructional manual and details on FIT kit collection. An usher would then assist the participant to redeem their complimentary 5 kg rice bag and check out at the exiting area.

This screening workshop was participated by 520 residents. Among these residents, 512 were given FIT kits and successfully registered to be part of the program. The workshop ended at 4 p.m. at Dewan 54 and 6 p.m. at Dewan 66 due to overwhelming response from the residents.

FIT Kit Collection Day

22nd April 2014

Community volunteers and EMPOWERED’s representative were stationed at the respective community halls from 7 a.m to 7 p.m. on 22nd April 2014 to collect FIT kits with stool samples of the registered participants from the Colorectal Cancer Screening Workshop which was held 2 days prior to that.

During the workshop, successfully registered participants were given FIT Kits and instructed how to collect a sample to be tested in laboratories to detect for blood in stool. The returned kits were cross checked with the registration list from the screening workshop.

468 kits were returned and sent to Sunway Medical Centre for testing. The return rate for FIT Kits has risen from 88% from past year’s project to 92% this year. EMPOWERED is grateful for the cooperation of the community volunteers to help ensure this successful outcome through their dedication and dynamic contribution in the preparation and execution of the community activities for this community project.

Training for Nurses at Klinik Kesihatan Cheras for Breaking ‘Bad News’ Day

9th May 2014

Mr. Fung Teck Hong, project manager of EMPOWERED carried out a training for a group of nurses from Klinik Kesihatan Cheras who will be helping to break the news of positive detection of blood in stool to the residents of Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B on 10th May 2014 at their homes. Instructions and advice were given on how to break this news to the residents in a gentle, tactful and composed manner without compromising details on subsequent hospital visits that have been pre-arranged for them by EMPOWERED.

The nurses were advised to introduce themselves being volunteers from EMPOWERED upon arrival at the residents’ homes. They should also mention that this is to deliver a sealed envelope containing the unknown results for the sample FIT kits that were distributed during the screening workshop and collected during the FIT kit collection day.

Upon entering the residents’ homes, the nurses should ensure that the environment is conducive for the news to be broken to the residents. This include ensuring that those present are immediate family members and if there are children, they will be attended to while the news is broken to the subject (resident). The subjects should also be able to clearly understand the news that is being broken to them and will be spoken to in their own language or dialect. Distractions like radio or television playing in the background should be tuned down or turned off.

When the residents are comfortable and rapport has been established, they will be shown a seal envelope which the nurses will request for the subjects to allow them to open on their behalf. This sealed envelope contains documents such as the positive results from Sunway Medical Centre (laboratory where the FIT kits were tested), a referral letter to Hospital Selayang from Klinik Kesihatan Cheras and a detailed instruction of the pre-arranged visit to Hospital Selayang.

The nurses were encouraged to have a few rounds of role-playing to ensure that they would familiarize themselves with the keywords to use and what to say as well as what not to say.

The hour long training was fruitful and the nurses were prepared for the breaking ‘bad news’ day the following day.

Breaking ‘Bad News’ Day

10th May 2014

EMPOWERED staff members and 9 trained nurses from Klinik Kesihatan Cheras formed 5 teams to break the news of positive detection of blood in stool to the residents of Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B on 10th May 2014 at their homes. Appointments to visit them at their homes were made prior to this visit.

Among these teams, there were 3 Malay speaking teams, 1 Cantonese/ Mandarin speaking team and a Tamil speaking team. This is to ensure that the residents would fully understand that results that they were given and informed of EMPOWERED’s assurance to include them in the Patient Support Program that covers hospital fees and transportation fees.

These fees are completely borne by the society. This also includes logistic arrangements for transportation and appointments for hospital visits, tests and treatments should the subjects be diagnosed with cancer.

Prior to the actual breaking of ‘bad’ news, all staff members and nurses were trained to deliver the news in a tactful, composed and comforting manner on top of informing the residents that EMPOWERED will journey with them throughout whatever hospital visits, consultations and tests that they may have to go through.

The residents with blood in stool were also given important details of the next hospital visit which has been pre-arranged by EMPOWERED for them, which includes a referral to Hospital Selayang by Klinik Kesihatan Cheras. Both institutions are fellow collaborators with EMPOWERED for this community project. A referral by a local government clinic is usually required prior to any consultation or treatment at a government hospital’s specialist clinic.

The important task for this appointment is to comfort any subjects who may be traumatized with the news and answer questions that they may have regarding the Patient Support Program. The teams were advised to convince these subjects to make themselves available for their first hospital visits to Hospital Selayang. To cater for the total number of 39 subjects who have blood in their stool, the first hospital visit is split into 2 different dates which are 15th and 22nd May 2014.

Training for Patient Support Program workshop for International Medical University student volunteers

12th May 2014

18 International Medical University (IMU) student volunteers were trained was on the 12th May 2014 for the Patient Support Program of EMPOWERED’s 2014 Colorectal Cancer Awareness, Screening and Treatment community project. The training was held at classroom 1.09 at the IMU campus in Bukit Jalil.

Our project manager, Mr. Fung Teck Hong was in charge of the training which is aimed to prepare the students to be proper aids for the residents who will be having their follow up consultation at the hospital. The residents have been informed that they are confirmed having blood in their stool and are scheduled to receive consultation and undergo colonoscopy to further investigate on the reason behind them having blood in their stool.

A step-by-step material was used for this training. This material included instructions on what to do at different times of the hospital visit. Students were also reminded of things they should check with the patient that they are supporting, things to say and not to say, explanation that they need to provide for the registration process, consultation and when the residents receive their medication to prepare their bowels for colonoscopy.

The brief training ended at 8.45 p.m. after reminders were given to the students.

Patient Support Program

15th May 2014 – Now

EMPOWERED’s Patient Support Program began with the first hospital visits arranged for the 40 subjects with positive results from the FIT kit test (blood in stools). However, only a total of 36 subjects agreed to attend their first hospital visits. Four subjects have declined due to personal reasons respectively.

The 36 subjects were brought to Hospital Selayang in 2 groups as the number was large. The hospital visit for the first group (17 subjects) was on 15th May 2014 (Thursday). As for the second group (19 subjects), they were scheduled on the 22nd May 2014 (Thursday).

Bus transport was arranged to pick up the 24 IMU student volunteers selected for the Patient Support Program from International Medical University (IMU) prior to picking up the subjects from Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah 3A & 3B. The reason was so that the subjects were accompanied during the bus ride to Hospital Selayang. It was also an opportunity for the student volunteers to build rapport with their respectively assigned subjects. This would help to put the subjects at ease.

Upon arrival of the subjects at the hospital, the subjects were given queue numbers for registration. During registration, the hospital staffs would register every subject, by keying in their personal details. The student volunteers assigned to care for every subject helped in translations as some subjects could not speak the Malay language.

Once they have registered, they would obtain another queue number to wait for their turn into the consultation room. While waiting for their respective turns, the student volunteers asked a few basic questions to the subjects to hasten the consultation process, as requested by the doctor in charged.

Following the doctor’s consultation, every subject was given their next appointment date for colonoscopy and a prescription to obtain their medication for the bowel preparation needed for their colonoscopy visit. The student volunteer then accompanied their respective subjects to get their medication.

Once all the subjects were done, they were gathered in one area and the nurse in charged gave a briefing on the diet and the bowel preparation needed to be followed by every subject one day prior to their respective colonoscopy visits. Any queries were clarified immediately.

The subjects and student volunteers then boarded the bus to return to Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah and International Medical University respectively.

Following the first hospital visit, every subject will be given an appointment date to do colonoscopy. The first colonoscopy began on 20th May 2014 with 2 subjects. Subsequent colonoscopy visits were scheduled on every Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 20th May 2014 till 25th June 2014 and 2 subjects were scheduled in August due to the fasting month and Hari Raya in July. Throughout the period, 4 extra subjects changed their minds and declined to pursue the colonoscopy. As a result, only a total of 32 subjects went for the colonoscopy.

Transports were arranged for every colonoscopy visit. Taxis were arranged to pick up the student volunteers from IMU before picking the subjects up from Perumahan Awam Seri Sabah, to ensure that the subjects were accompanied and guided to Hospital Selayang for their colonoscopy.

When they arrived at Hospital Selayang, they would be registered and given an identification wristband. They then waited at the waiting area, before being called into the consultation room by the nurse on duty. In the room, the nurse would ask the subject a few health-related questions and measure their blood pressure. The subject would then be given a set of gown to change into. The student volunteers would assist every subject to change if needed.

The subject would be called into the colonoscopy procedure room for the colonoscopy to be conducted. Accompanying IMU student volunteer were allowed to observe the entire procedure. Upon completion of the colonoscopy, subjects would be pushed to the ward to rest and be given next appointment dates and prescription accordingly.

Once the subject was well-rested and able to be discharged, the IMU student volunteers would accompany the subject back to Seri Sabah before heading back to IMU in taxis.

EMPOWERED’s Patient Support Program continued as subjects were arranged to attend their subsequent hospital visits after their first hospital visits and the colonoscopy procedures.

After the colonoscopy, most subjects were given appointment dates for their next hospital visits to obtain their colonoscopy results. Some subjects, however, were advised to go for barium enema as their colonoscopy procedures were incomplete due to certain reasons such as pain issue. For hospital visits after the colonoscopy, subjects received reminder calls from EMPOWERED’s staff 1 to 2 days prior to their appointment dates. They were then given instructions to take taxi to go to Hospital Selayang either by themselves or with other subjects, depending on whether there were other subjects with the same appointment dates. EMPOWERED’s staff would receive subjects at Hospital Selayang and pay for the taxi fares. Subjects would be accompanied and guided throughout the process of their hospital visits. EMPOWERED’s staff attended to subjects’ emotional needs accordingly while waiting for their turns for doctor consultations.

During consultation, subjects were explained by doctors on their colonoscopy results as well as subsequent follow-ups needed. EMPOWERED’s staff helped in translation for subjects who did not understand Malay language when needed. Subjects with confirmed negative results would be informed and discharged from EMPOWERED’s Patient Support Program. All subjects understood and accepted that assistance and support from EMPOWERED were unable to be extended to them in long term. For subjects who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer and required further test and/or treatment, they were ensured that EMPOWERED would continue to support them throughout the journey. At the end of every hospital visit, EMPOWERED’s staff arranged for subjects to return to Seri Sabah in taxi.

During this program, there were 4 subjects diagnosed with colorectal cancer. One subject did not require any further colorectal cancer treatment after a CT scan showed normal result post removal of his malignant polyps (during colonoscopy). Another subject refused to continue his treatment/follow up at Hospital Selayang after being recommended to undergo a colorectal surgery, despite multiple attempts by EMPOWERED’s staff to persuade him to pursue the surgery treatment. In view of the subject’s unwavering decision, the subject was then told to seek for 2nd opinion as soon as possible given his risks. For the remaining 2 subjects, both of them had undergone colorectal surgery as recommended and 1 of them was being referred to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for further chemotherapy/radiotherapy treatment post-surgery. Currently, the treatment at Hospital Kuala Lumpur is still ongoing and is expected to last till March 2015.