[Survivor Series] Health education not only helped me, but my coworkers, family, and neighbours

My name is Sneha*. I am a 26-year-old factory worker who hails from Madhugiri village in Karnataka. I have completed my PUC 2^nd year studies, but I could not study further due to financial problems in my family.

To support my parents, I moved to Bengaluru in search of job opportunities. I live with my older sister’s family. I have four sisters, three of whom are married.

For the last eight years, I have been working in one of the factories in the Peenya Industrial Cluster. I started as a quality checker, and now, I have been promoted to a visual and final data entry personnel, which involves taking care of the overall planning of quality checks, daily taking stock, and data entry into the system.

I was excited when the factory management selected me as a wellness facilitator for Swasti’s Invest for Wellness programme in 2020, where I understood the roles and responsibilities of the facilitators in factories.

Founded in 2003, Swasti’s Invest for Wellness (i4We) programme contributes to the health and wellbeing of over 60,000 workers across India, Bangladesh, and Lesotho, of which nearly 60 percent of impacted workers are women.

We were trained to share preventive health information with our coworkers. Through regular training, I could learn about health and how to adopt healthy behaviours to prevent diseases and lead a healthy life. 

I became more aware of health issues, how to prevent diseases, and particularly, how to take care of my health. It felt like I was back in college, learning new things.

However, at the time, I would often fall sick and frequently take leaves to visit the doctor. I would skip breakfast, deeming it not important and would feel dizzy. I was consuming very less water too.

The Swasti team diagnosed me with anaemia when they first conducted my health screening. My haemoglobin level was at 9 gram/100 ml and I also suffered from low blood pressure.

A Swasti nurse gave me dietary advice and health counselling. I started eating vegetables regularly and increased my salt intake. I also started exercising to improve my BP levels.

During the second rescreening, my haemoglobin had increased to 11.9 g/100 ml, and my blood pressure was within the normal range. I was very happy to see my improvement. The Swasti nurse had advised continuing to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle.

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Helping coworkers

Today, I educate 12 of my coworkers on improving their health, especially two women who were found to have low haemoglobin levels during their health screening. 

I educate them on consuming iron-rich food daily and encourage them to adhere to the treatment advised by the Swasti nurses. I check with them during lunch breaks to see what they were having.

I could influence them to replace tea and coffee with healthy snacks such as sprouts and vegetables. As they started to follow these, their haemoglobin levels increased and they can perform better at work now.

Likewise, I could help another coworker manage her high blood pressure levels by educating her on lifestyle modifications, including regular exercise and sufficient water intake. 

My manager, observant of my action, appreciated me for my efforts to uplift the health of my coworkers, creating a healthy workplace. In fact, I help my father manage his diabetes treatment by motivating him to consume a balanced diet and go for regular check-ups.

Swasti’s intervention

I have replaced drinking tea or coffee with Swasti’s multi-grain nutritious pack, which I bought at a subsidised price. It tastes better and makes me feel energetic.

My mother, too, could see the benefits of the nutritious mix. She learnt to prepare the mix at home, and now, all my family members consume the homemade millet mix.

I can see they are much healthy, and I feel quite happy about it. I also started using cloth pads during menstruation, and I also encourage other women to use cloth pads or menstrual cups.

Since attending Swasti’s life skills training, I can do my work more responsibly, manage my time, and understand the need for teamwork. The communication skills session has helped me communicate better in my workplace, where I could apply the learnings to maintain good relationships, not only with coworkers but also with my family members.

The stress management sessions helped me plan my days better, including my household work and work in the factory. Through the self-realisation session, I could understand my strengths and set goals for myself. I have an aim to build a house for my family.

I feel such programmes should be implemented in other factories and industries as most workers are not concerned about their health, especially women like me, since we are busy with work.

Women workers do not go for health check-ups regularly outside their workplace and end up falling sick and missing work. They fear if they have to go to the hospital, they would lose out on the attendance bonuses.

We are focused on production, and as soon as the work is done, we are in a hurry to reach our homes and start with the household work. So these workers do not concern themselves when they are tired or weak.

Swasti’s programme is helping us to improve our awareness and knowledge about health issues at the factory doorstep. When we visit a doctor, we are not comfortable in sharing every detail of our health issues.

Most often, doctors do not have the time to explain everything in detail. This health education not only helps me, but I can educate my coworkers, family, and neighbours.

I encourage my coworkers to keep our workplaces clean to prevent infections and health issues. I feel more committed to my roles and responsibilities and how I contribute to the larger organisation.

(*Name is changed as per request.)