Webinar Supporting Mental Health for Healthcare Workers in Times of Crisis
In honour of World Mental Health Day, OUCRU’s Public and Community Engagement group, in partnership with the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD), Vietnam Psychotherapy Association (VnPA), and Medisetter, will host a webinar on “Mental Health in the Workplace.” The webinar will focus on providing psychological first aid, raising awareness about mental health during and after […]
Youth Ambassadors Aim to Raise Tetanus Awareness Through Public and Community Engagement Activities
The Youth Science Ambassadors (YSA) project, launched in 2021, has become a key youth engagement activities of OUCRU’s Public and Community Engagement Group. Becoming part of the project, young participants are empowered to lead, propose, plan, and execute their own initiatives addressing specific issues they identify themselves. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, YSAs produced […]
Community Engagement and Involvement: Enhancing Research Impact
At OUCRU, we have integrated public and community engagement projects into our research program since 2011. But what exactly is community engagement (and involvement), and why is it important to global health research? Let’s take a look at the summary of a new free course on MESH, a community engagement knowledge and professional support hub […]
Stress Management, an essential skill for healthcare workers
In the high-pressure, high-stakes field of healthcare, effective stress management is critical. It’s essential for maintaining the health and wellbeing of healthcare workers, as well as ensuring high-quality patient care. According to the statistics of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, in 2021, the number of healthcare workers who quit was 968 people. […]
OUCRU presented our community mobilisation efforts in One Health at the launch event of Media for One Health project
On 20 May in Hanoi, Dr Mary Chambers and Associate Professor Sonia Lewycka presented on One Health activities at OUCRU, highlighting the essential role of public engagement and communication with various communities in raising awareness as well as how to integrate One Health approach and climate change into infectious diseases research. This event was part […]
OUCRU welcomed ASEAN Social Impact Program students for a Science Visit
On 31st May, the Public and Community Engagement Group at OUCRU re-launched the Science Visit project. This event saw 25 enthusiastic students from Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, the Phillipines, and Cambodia. This student group is a part of the ASEAN Social Impact Program (ASIP), visit OUCRU. They joined a lab tour and participated in several group games centered around […]
Nurturing Future Generations’ Passion for Science through Engagement with Children and Teachers
At OUCRU, we believe that science can excite and inspire children, contribute to their understanding of the world, and present opportunities for life skill development. The better children understand and appreciate science, the better-informed decisions they can make throughout their lives. To make science more approachable and engaging, OUCRU’s Public and Community Engagement group conducts […]
Public and Community Engagement to Support Vaccine Research
The Public and Community Engagement group at OUCRU has a strong commitment to community engagement, particularly in the field of vaccine research. Let’s look at some featured projects in all OUCRU’s local offices, spreading out from typhoid in Nepal to TB in Vietnam. Nepal: Tackling Typhoid Typhoid is a public health problem in Nepal(1). With […]
Supporting Vaccine Uptake and Raising Vaccine Awareness through Public and Community Engagement
Awareness is a critical factor affecting vaccine uptake(1), especially in rural communities with limited access to vaccine information , such as ethnic minority communities in rural areas (Binh Phuoc, our research province for example), or due to several different challenges like health crises like COVID-19. After assessing vaccine uptake, and exploring attitudes and perceptions of […]
Celebrating Earth Day: Reflecting on OUCRU Green Day
22th April is Earth Day. As important as clinical research, at OUCRU, we are also committed to promoting environmental activities and encouraging a culture of sustainability. Our initiatives include a dedicated Green Team and several activities, one of which is the Green Day event. The OUCRU Green Team is a group of passionate volunteers who […]
New publication: Social cohesion among healthcare workers during COVID-19: Qualitative research in Indonesia, Nepal, and Vietnam
Several published research studies have shown that healthcare workers (HCWs) were significantly affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being on the front line of the pandemic response, they faced increased risks including pathogen exposure, a shortage of protective equipment, heavy workloads, long working hours, and significant mental distress. However, many of these studies focused on individual […]
World Health Worker Day 2024: Honour our daily heroes together
In the 1st week of April each year, the global community comes together to celebrate health workers, the backbone of the health industry and society. This year, the theme is #SafeSupportedHealthWorkers. The Frontline Health Workers Coalition and its partners are leading the effort. The goal is to unite advocates, health workers, leaders, and communities worldwide […]
Social Workers: An Essential Workforce at Hospitals
Social workers play an important role in complex and fast-paced environments like hospitals. They support hospital staff, patients, and carers professionally, physically, and mentally. 25th March is Vietnamese Social Workers Day. On this day, we honour the valuable contributions of social workers who silently support all healthcare workers, patients, and carers at hospitals. Healthcare workers […]
HCDC: Healthcare Workers need Mental Healthcare
On December 8, 2023, the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) organised a webinar titled “Mental Health Care for Healthcare Workers in Ho Chi Minh City”. The seminar aimed to highlight the importance of mental health care for healthcare workers and provide them with effective strategies and resources to maintain their own […]
Youth Against Antimicrobial Resistance: Empowering the Future
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health crisis that jeopardizes our ability to effectively treat infections caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites. To address this urgent issue, OUCRU has been implementing projects involving the youth and empowering young individuals to take action and make a difference. YAAR! and a learning framework for all ages […]
Public Engagement Activities in Nepal to celebrate World AMR Awareness Week
Nepal is one of the major contributors to the growing burden of AMR due to widespread irrational use of antibiotics along with poor health care systems poor infection control and prevention measures(*). The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has attempted to address the issue of AMR by the release of a National Antibiotics Treatment […]
World AMR Awareness and Public Engagement at OUCRU
18 – 24 November is World AMR Awareness Week. At Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), we are committed to raising awareness about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the communities we work with: ‘preventing antimicrobial resistance together’1. To fulfil our commitment, OUCRU’s Public and Community Engagement team has organised several activities and projects across our sites. […]
Introducing new science book OUCRU, Bayer, and Khan Quang Do
We are excited to announce the release of the book “One Health,” a collaborative effort between OUCRU’s Public and Community Engagement Group, Bayer Vietnam, and Khan Quang Do. This book will be introduced at Book Street (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) at 9AM, November 5th, 2023, and will soon be distributed through selected educational […]
Webinar: Communicating with Emotional Competence
Join us for an informative and transformative webinar titled “Communicating with Emotional Competence: Making a Difference to Patients and Colleagues”. This webinar is co-organised by the CONNECT hub(*) on The Global Health Network (TGHN), OUCRU, and KEMRI (Kenya Medical Research Institute – Wellcome Trust Research Programme Kenya). The webinar aims to empower healthcare professionals with […]
OUCRU Bolsters Ho Chi Minh City’s Responses to Emerging Infectious Diseases
In collaboration with Ho Chi Minh City’s healthcare sector, OUCRU has successfully identified the primary agent causing the outbreak of pink eye disease. Testings revealed an unexpected finding: enterovirus was the primary agent, contrary to previous reports from Vietnam wherein adenovirus was the culprit.