Strengthening Health Education Through UMS School Heroes App

The Community Service Team from the Center for Disaster and Health Education (P2AD) of Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) successfully held a two-day health training session at SMP Muhammadiyah 1 Wonosobo. Led by Ayu Khoirotul Umaroh, S.K.M., M.K.M., the team delivered emergency response and health skill training to school health cadres through the School Heroes program.

The program aimed to improve students’ capacity in handling emergency situations while also deepening their understanding of physical and mental health. School Heroes adopts a Participatory Learning and Action strategy, where students are not just passive recipients of information, but are actively involved in the learning process.

The enthusiasm during the training session with UMS Public Health students.

On the first day of training, the team introduced the School Heroes app, which can be accessed as a reference for health and emergency handling. This was followed by First Aid training. The students from SMP Muhammadiyah 1 Wonosobo, serving as school health cadres, had the opportunity to learn from health experts about steps to take in emergency situations such as nosebleeds, choking, fainting, fire incidents, and fractures.

During the first aid training, students were guided by Sheena Ramadhia Asmara Dhani, S.K.M., M.KKK., and Wita Oktaviana, M.Kep., Sp.Kep.J., who provided explanations and interactive demonstrations on various first aid methods. Afterward, students participated in creating a first aid demonstration video, directly assisted by facilitators from the UMS Public Health Study Program.

Basuki Zuliyanto, S.Ag., Principal of SMP Muhammadiyah 1 Wonosobo, expressed his appreciation for the presence of the UMS team.

“We are very grateful for this program. We hope our students can use these skills to help their peers in emergency situations at school,” he said.

On the second day, the program continued with more in-depth health sessions on Disease Prevention and Behavior Change (P3P). Topics such as the dangers of smoking, mental health, student ergonomics, reproductive health, and dengue fever prevention were presented by various speakers.

The first speaker, Sri Indra Kurnia, S.K.M., MPH., delivered material on the health impacts of smoking. The second speaker, Wita Oktaviana, M.Kep., Sp.Kep.J., discussed the importance of maintaining mental health for teenagers. The third speaker, Sheena Ramadhia Asmara Dhani, S.K.M., M.KKK., talked about ergonomics in schools, and finally, Ayu Khoirotul, S.K.M., M.K.M., presented topics on reproductive health and dengue fever prevention.

A poster created by one of the student groups on the theme “Maintaining Reproductive Health” (10/4/2024). 

The School Heroes program actively involved students through a creative activity: making health-themed zines. Students were divided into five groups to create creative media based on the health topics they had learned. The goal of this activity was to ensure that students not only understood the material theoretically but could also spread health messages to their peers in an engaging way.

“I really enjoyed it, the activities were fun during the practice sessions, and I learned a lot,” said Arya, a 7th-grade student.

Another participant, Angelie from 8th grade, added, “Totally agree, it was really fun. The way the material was delivered was easy to understand, and the facilitators were all friendly and kind.”

“Thank you so much, Bu Ayu. This partnership has been truly beneficial for us,” said Vice Principal Wawan Prasetyo Heryanto, M.Pd.

At the end of the event, Ayu expressed her hope that the students would continue to share the information they had received with their schoolmates. She also stated that the training led by her P2AD team could serve as an initial step in creating a healthy and safe school environment through emergency response skills and comprehensive health education.