SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
3.3.2 Health Outreach Programmes
Health Outreach Programmes
Health outreach programmes at the American University of the Middle East aim at promoting health and well-being in communities. These programmes encompass the creation of volunteering opportunities for students’ role in community service, promoting health in ongoing awareness activities, offering healthy food on campus, being a focal point for sports - exercise - athletics, emergency first aid and trained community members, strong support to faculty and staff for their medical coverage, and general education program offering courses on nutrition - physical education - psychology. In this section, we provide selected examples on each of the mentioned programmes. At the end of this section, a special COVID-19 edition provides initiatives undergone during the pandemic.
Creating volunteering opportunities for students’ role in community service
AUM students volunteering to contribute to the greening initiative at the Social Care Homes Complex
As part of a collaborative effort to promote aging well and enhance the quality of life for older adults, AUM students volunteered to contribute to the greening initiative at the Social Care Homes Complex that presents a model in caring for the elderly, whether through residential care in social care homes or through mobile service units that cover all governorates. Volunteers also painted the sidewalks surrounding the complex in an effort to create a more comfortable atmosphere for visitors. Read more, additional link.
AUM students actively participate in Sustainable Village – Health and Wellbeing “In our Typical Modern Kuwaiti Household”
AUM collaborated with SLB to host The Sustainability Village on November 9 and 10, 2022. A sustainability mini walk-through experience linked with a number of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals and local sustainability goals. The purpose behind the project is to showcase the importance of these topics to the modern-day Kuwaiti Household.
One of the three main booths was “Health and Wellbeing – In Our Typical Modern Kuwaiti Household” in addition to the other two booths: “Electricity Consumption Booth” and “Waste Management Booth”. The booth was designed in an interactive way that would encourage individuals to participate and experience how sustainability and especially health and well-being can make a difference in their lives. Read more.
Blood donation campaign
A blood donation event was organized on campus where AUM students, faculty and staff volunteered to donate blood and help saving lives. This event was organized in cooperation with the Kuwait Central Blood Bank, the only blood bank in Kuwait being operated by the government. Additional evidence.
AUM students visit the department of pediatric surgery in Ibn Sina
Within efforts to shape a generation of active citizens, the American University of the Middle East (AUM) organized a visit for its students to the pediatrics surgery department at “Ibn Sina” hospital in Kuwait city.
During the visit, AUM students expressed their support for children, playing with them and presenting them with gifts, as well as wishing them a speedy recovery.
Following the visit, Student Bibi AlGhanim, from the College of Engineering and Technology said that her best memory of this experience will be the joy manifested on the faces of children and their families upon receiving their student guests. She added: “our university has an essential and effective role in inspiring us to become socially responsible individuals in our society and country. This culture is instilled through activities similar to this one, which aim to motivate us towards taking more initiatives to give back to our community”.
On her part, Student Bodour AlQattan, from the College of Business Administration, noted that the experience was distinctive in many ways. “This kind of activity, organized by AUM, has a human dimension and helps us become active citizens in our community, it focuses on qualities such as commitment and responsibility towards others, it also develops our social and overall interpersonal skills”, she said.
Ever since its establishment, the concept of social responsibility and civic engagement has been a fundamental part of the American University of the Middle East’s mission. Therefore, this philosophy is instilled in the learning process to build a socially responsible generation. Read more.
Students sharing their stories with the community to save lives: Raising Awareness during GCC unified traffic week
On GCC unified traffic week, AUM organized an online session to raise on driving and road safety and hosted 3 students who have unfortunately experienced car accidents that changed their lives. This session reminded the community on the importance of driving safe by using seatbelts, wearing a helmet for motorcycle riders, not using mobile phones or texting while driving. Additional link.
A volunteering initiative for donation
In celebration of Kuwait National Holidays, AUM students broke the Guinness World Record by creating the largest shirt mosaic (flag) on February 18, 2019. The 5,160 shirts used by a group of volunteering students to build the flag on a 1,570.554 square meters of the football field at AUM campus were all donated to the Kuwait Red Crescent Society, a renowned NGO which is one of the leading Kuwaiti beacons in the field of humanitarian work and that takes care of health emergencies. Additional link.
Promoting health in ongoing awareness activities
Awareness Day for Head and Neck Cancer
The American university of the Middle East (AUM) held, in collaboration with Cancer Aware Nation (C.A.N), an awareness day for head and neck cancer on its campus in Egaila. AUM held several related activities on the day aiming to raise awareness on the different types of head and neck cancers, how to avoid, detect and treat the disease especially that early detection increases the chances of patient recovery.
The event comes after a series of health awareness activities that fall under AUM’s social responsibility. In addition, AUM held “World Diabetes Day” activities to inform students on how to detect and treat the disease. AUM also held a “Breast Cancer Awareness” campaign to promote awareness of breast cancer, and encourage young men and women to perform breast self-exam on a regular basis since early detection can help fight the disease.
Through cultural, health and sports activities AUM hopes to educate a young generation aware of and engaged in the wellbeing of the community to improve lives. Additional link.
World Diabetes Day 2023 - Diabetes Awareness Campaign and Beat Diabetes Walkathon
AUM organized the Diabetes Awareness week between 26 and 30 November 2023. Health check stations were on campus, measuring blood sugar levels and blood pressure provided in collaboration with Dar Al-Shifa Hospital.
On 26 November 2023, awareness sessions were held for students, faculty and staff covering diabetes types and prevention methods. The students’ awareness session was under the theme “Beat Diabetes – Student Experiences and Support”.
In addition during the same week, Beat Diabetes Walkathon was organized for students on campus. Additional link.
Interactive Workshop “Cholesterol Myths and Facts”
On May 1, 2023, AUM organized an interactive workshop on “Cholesterol Myths and Facts” for faculty and staff. The workshop focused basically on raising awareness of some myths and facts about cholesterol, in which attendees learned more about the health benefits of cholesterol, the good and bad cholesterol, cholesterol management by diet, medications for cholesterol and lifestyle interventions; all through interactive discussions.
This workshop helped to learn how one can make healthy lifestyle changes to reduce the levels of risks and improve his/her health. Additional link.
World Heart Day
In September 2019, on the occasion of the World Heart Day, AUM students participated in challenges to raise awareness about the importance of exercise as a prevention mechanism against heart diseases.
Offering healthy food on campus
The American University of the Middle East (AUM) offers indoor and outdoor food courts that can accommodate a large number of students and faculty/staff who can enjoy a variety of healthy and affordable food on campus without the need to leave the campus during their studies or working hours. Numerous restaurants and cafes under reputable brands with stringent food safety guidelines and sustainable food practices are available in different areas inside the campus to serve the students and faculty/staff at discounted prices up to 30% which makes the options priced reasonably compared to external market prices.
For instance, the locally renowned healthy food restaurant “PICK” is available on campus to provide its services of offering healthy snacks and meals to the campus community.
PICK serves readymade, freshly prepared “BALANCED” food that’s good for all types of diets. Each item displayed has full nutritional information, this allows any PICK customer to pick whatever he or she needs for any meal throughout the whole day. http://pick.com.kw/
Opening of PRET in 2023 at the Library building: In 2023, AUM celebrated the opening of the new restaurant on campus, PRET a manger, which serves freshly made food and good organic coffee. Food is handmade in Pret shop kitchens throughout the day and everything they don't sell, goes to charity. Coffee is 100% organic and the Coffee Fund is supporting the next generation of farmers. Additional evidence.
Being a focal point for sports, exercise, and athletics
Universities Athletic Association of Kuwait
The UAAK was founded by AUM at the start of the 2015 academic year to promote inter-university sports competitions for male and female students. Participating Private Universities Teams compete over the academic year for each sport and for the overall championship of the UAAK, which is determined by the accumulating points of success from each sport.
Sports included in the UAAK are football, basketball, volleyball, futsal, squash, table tennis, and tennis, swimming, and squash. All sports are open to both male and female.
Link to AUM teams competing locally against other universities in the UAAK.
Sports Awards Ceremonies honoring AUM Sports Champion teams
As part of our belief in the importance of athletics to promote a culture of well-being and in its contribution to the learning experience of our students, our sports teams were honored by the AUM Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Fahad Al Othman. Only in 2019, AUM sports teams had around 20 achievements to highlight.
In 2023, AUM sports teams had 10 achievements. Additional link.
Companies: Brands League 2023
In January 2023, AUM hosted the Brands League 2023 from 7 to 16 January 2023. The Brands League is a unique football tournament for local and international brands and agents, where 32 teams competed each other on AUM Football court.
In parallel, a festival was organized where various companies exhibited their booths and welcomed the community members. Also, the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup was livestreamed for those who wanted to watch the games. Additional evidence.
AUM organized Parents and Students Marathon at the AUM Sports Center. Students ran with their parents and competed in football. Also, AUM organized an end of year gathering for faculty/staff and their families. The event features various activities including sports competitions. Additional evidence.
High school students: Sports league and special website for Youth
To promote a culture of fitness and well-being among youth in Kuwait and on AUM campus, AUM organizes sports league for high school male and female students in Kuwait where they compete on AUM campus. One of the recent competitions included football, basketball, and volleyball.
As a result of the lockdown caused by the pandemic, AUM created a website targeting “Youth” to motivate them to stay active during the pandemic. AUM Youth organizes virtual events and competitions related to Sports and fitness, among other activities that fall under arts, science, and innovation.
Some of the online events done are Core, Body Combat, Circuit Training, Full Body Workout, Fitness and Nutrition, Upper and lower body workout, abs, and fitness challenges. Additional evidence.
Companies: Olympics Events and Sponsorships
AUM hosted the “Schlumberger Olympics Event”. Employees of the company who are located in Kuwait, Qatar, and Egypt were the main participants of the event that took place on Saturdays for a multiple-week duration in March and April 2019. All indoor and outdoor facilities and staff of the AUM Sports Center were put at the disposal for Schlumberger team and their families.
As part of its commitment to support youth and sports in the community, AUM has been a Platinum Sponsor of the Golden1 Award for the best local football player of the season 2019-2020. This Award is the first of its kind in the Gulf region in terms of nomination mechanism, stages of voting, and criteria of selection. It has an official collaboration with InStat, the renowned sports performance analysis company that cooperates with famous European football Clubs such as Barcelona and Chelsea. Additional evidence.
Emergency First Aid and Trained Community Members
AUM installed 125 First Aid Boxes across all buildings on Campus. These boxes are regularly checked and refilled. During the academic year 2023-2024, the Staff Development Department organized a series of First Aid and CPR training programs. Currently, 100+ community members are trained on First Aid and CPR in collaboration with Dar Al-Shifa Hospital. Additional link.
Strong support to faculty and staff for their medical coverage
AUM Human Resources Department has dedicated staff members who provide faculty and staff members at AUM full-time support for their medical coverage including medical claims, medical insurance benefit for dependents, getting access to the cross boarding health providers list, etc.
General education program offering courses on nutrition, physical education, psychology
As part of their education at AUM and within the general education requirements, all AUM students take at least one or many courses dedicated for promoting good health and well-being (nutrition, physical education, psychology, Child Development and Family Studies, etc.). Additional evidence.
Special COVID-19
Corona virus awareness event on campus at its early stage
In early 2020, before the pandemic reached Kuwait, AUM held an awareness session for the students, faculty and staff about the Novel Coronavirus that has been spreading.
Pandemic awareness campaigns on social media
During the pandemic, AUM has been regularly launching social media campaigns to raise awareness among the students and the community on how to stay safe, healthy and motivated. These campaigns include sharing various tips on physical and mental health and well-being. Below is a selected campaign launch on social media:
In May 2020, AUM faculty and staff paid a special tribute by expressing gratitude in their native language to all the medical workers and frontliners in Kuwait who are working around the clock to keep us safe. The video that was posted on social media got more than 118,000+ Youtube views and it spread a great awareness on standing “together” against COVID-19 within a culture of gratitude towards each other.
AUM organized virtual event under the title “Get Fit with the Champs”, as a part of the university’s efforts to promote a culture of health and wellbeing among its students.
To encourage AUM faculty and staff to stay fit while remaining safe during this period, the university organized a virtual walkathon, where it challenged all team members to individually walk a distance of 34+ Km while following specific criteria related to safety, pace, and time.
On 25 November 2020, the American University of the Middle East (AUM) ran a virtual event under the title “Living with Diabetes” as part of the university’s efforts to raise awareness about the disease and how to live with it. The aim of this event was to explore the challenges people with Diabetes face daily and how they can be overcome.
AUM students, faculty, and staff attended the virtual event on Zoom, which featured the following speakers: Dr. Ahmed Swidan, an Endocrinology Consultant, Ms. Esraa Abdulrida, a nutrition expert, and AUM Alumni, Ms. Duaa Mohamed, who shared her personal experience of living with Diabetes.
Dr. Ahmed Swidan presented an overview of diabetes and explained in detail the disease types and their various symptoms. He also educated students on the prevention methods, the common misconceptions about the disease, and how to behave with diabetes patients.
Ms. Esraa Abdulrida tackled the most important prevention and coping methods and stressed the importance of exercise and a healthy diet. AUM Alumni, Ms. Duaa Mohamed, shared her experience about how she has been coping with the diseases since she was six years old. She highlighted that AUM’s inclusive environment was very beneficial during her academic journey, especially since the university provides well-equipped clinics and nursing staff with high qualifications. She also pointed out that the disease was not an obstacle to her as she was able to be fully active in various sports, social, and cultural activities at the university. Her main message to AUM students was that living with Diabetes does not have to hold you back while emphasizing the importance of exercise and proper diet.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 420 million people in the world are living with diabetes. Both the number of cases and the prevalence of diabetes have been steadily increasing over the past few decades. In Kuwait in particular, the prevalence of diabetes in adults is around 22% as per the International Diabetes Federation.
From nutrition and exercise to medical care and handling complications, AUM provided the platform for knowledge dissemination by giving participants the opportunity to learn about diabetes from experts across the country and hear about personal experiences.
