One Nursing Professor’s Dedication to Improving Healthcare Leads Her Halfway Around the World

When Patty Peek (CON BSN ‘72) traveled to Tanzania, she met a nursing midwife that didn’t have the basic equipment needed to check an expectant mother’s blood pressure. A simple device such as a blood pressure cuff is necessary to deliver primary care and detect health problems like preeclampsia and hypertension. Unfortunately, this situation is common in the region because of a severe lack of health resources in Africa.

Patty, nurse practitioner program coordinator and associate professor at Michigan State University College of Nursing, travels to Tanzania on the Eastern Coast of Africa with the MSU Tanzania Partnership Project to establish relationships related to children’s and women’s health.

The MSU Tanzania Partnership Project is focused on community development, working to develop interventions to improve nutrition, provide access to clean water and prevent animal-to-human disease transmission - all in an effort to improve health outcomes and save lives. Patty Peek was invited to participate because of her extensive experience in international healthcare and working with populations in Africa, most recently in South Africa.

Her work with the MSU Tanzania Partnership Project began by assessing the health needs of two communities, Naitolia and Milola. She found a high rate of health issues related to poverty, malnutrition, and a lack of clean water. In rural areas, maternal and infant mortality are also a significant problem.

According to Patty, "Being able to positively impact the lives of children is the best part of participating in the project.” One of the opportunities she had was when primary school teachers helped her recognize a need for reliable health data on school aged children, many of which are orphans. "Better health has been linked to better school performance and without accurate data it’s hard to define the problems and develop interventions.

Although the government requires health data to be collected on children, it is rarely done due to a lack of resources. There is hope that data will be collected in September 2010 and January 2011 with the help of the project.

"The work can be challenging,” Patty said. "It is often frustrating, saddening and sometimes the problems are overwhelming because of the magnitude of health disparities. It helps to work one day at a time and celebrate the small victories.”

Upon Patty’s return to Tanzania, she was able to provide the much needed blood pressure cuffs and trained nursing midwives on appropriate use.

One of the greatest strengths of the project is the cross disciplinary approach. "The problems and issues encountered by the targeted villages are complex and extend beyond disciplinary borders. Impacting problems such as lack of clean drinking water must involve broad expertise. Each of us is a piece of a puzzle and as we work in concert together, sustainable community solutions become more possible,” Patty said.

South Africa Medical Expeditions

Since 2006, Patty has also worked with South Africa Medical Expeditions (SAME) to provide resources for orphans, vulnerable children, and their caregivers in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. As part of this organization she helps to conduct health assessments for primary school children, identify at-risk children, and perform community health needs assessments.

Patty serves as co-chair of the medical services committee and has led teams of U.S. volunteers to support in-country partners in their work. As a result, support from non-governmental organizations has grown while barriers to access vital healthcare services are diminishing. SAME has also extended their services to include in-home HIV counseling, testing, and end-of-life palliative care to people suffering from AIDS and Tuberculosis.

Pictured above is a South African woman with her orphaned grandchildren. They are an example of the families and children Patty works with through South Africa Medical Expeditions.	Patty Peek poses with women from Naitolia after conducting a focus group. The women gave beaded necklaces to members of the MSU Team and then taught them one of their dances.