June 12, 2013

The Natural Standard Academic Achievment Award was issued to Leah Muriuki ‘ 12 for her graduate project work titled, “Promotion of optimal breastfeeding practices as a means of preventing and managing childhood diarrhea in the underserved communities in Kenya.”

Muriuki’s project focused on educating the community health workers and the clinical staff members at Westland Health Center in Nairobi, Kenya. The goal of the project was to educate the target audience on the importance of optimal breastfeeding practices in the prevention and management of childhood diarrhea based upon her evidence-based research. Emphasis was placed on the optimal breastfeeding guidelines as consistent with WHO/UNICEF recommendations. Community health workers and clinic staff trained by Muriuki then served in villages and community clinics conveying the information they learned. Muriuki trained the health care providers via Skype conferences with integrated PowerPoint presentations as well as through pre-prepared patient information in English and Swahili.