Team DRIP
Mission
Team DRIP’s mission is to minimize the effects of diabetes in our partner community, specifically relating to diabetic amputees and diabetic wound care.
Needs Statement
We aim to increase community members’ access to information on proper, comprehensive, and preventative wound care to prevent unnecessary amputations. We also are working on providing a low-cost, sustainable assistive walking device for diabetic amputees who cannot afford commercially available prosthetics.
t e a m B A C K G R O U N D
The Diabetes Reduction Initiative in Peñasco (DRIP) team originated from M-HEAL’s Service Abroad and Needs Assessment (SANA) Spring 2020 initiative, when DRIP’s project team members traveled to Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. Based on observations made at local clinics and interviews with doctors, patients, community members, and other healthcare workers, DRIP chose to focus on a major health concern in the Puerto Peñasco community: diabetes. Diabetes has been a growing concern in this local community, and in most of Mexico, particularly surrounding wound care education and access to assistive walking devices for diabetic amputees.
Team Structure-A multipronged approach
Technical
The technical subteam is working on assistive devices for diabetic amputees and has been developing a low-cost prosthetic knee, which is currently in the 3D printing and stress testing phase. The team is also working on creating an interactive health website for patients with diabetes, while exploring other technical projects.
Business
The business subteam is focused on expanding the impact of DRIP. They are planning a trip at the end of the Fall 2024 semester, while maintaining partnerships with our community contacts, and applying for funding opportunities.
Educational
The educational subteam is focused on preventing amputations by increasing access to comprehensive information on prevention and wound care methods. We are currently implementing our prevention and wound care pamphlets in the community & receiving feedback, while creating outreach initiatives with international healthcare organizations. The title page for on of our pamphlets is shown below
Community Partners
Saul Veldíz: Our team originated from the SANA trip in the spring of 2020, when our founding members traveled to Puerto Peñasco, a city in Sonora, and conducted a needs assessment of local clinics and organized interviews with doctors, patients, & community members. We met Saul Veldiz, who is a community health worker and liaison for International Service Learning (ISL). He is our community partner in Puerto Peñasco who has been instrumental in our understanding of the city's resources.
Humanity First: We also have partnered with Humanity First, an international nonprofit that provides medical care to low-income communities in Latin America. With their help, our pamphlets have reached hundreds of patients in Mexico and Guatemala.
Enrique Gama Becerra: Enrique is a prosthetist local to Puerto Penasco who we have partnered with to receive feedback on our knee design.
Future Goals
This year, DRIP is planning to travel to receive feedback on both our educational pamphlets and prosthetic knee, while exploring further solutions to improve the quality of life of those who live with diabetes.
Here's a few pictures from our 2020 trip to Puerto Peñasco and past presentations:
