The prevalence of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is increasing globally, with rising rates in newly industrialized countries, indicating that lifestyle and environmental factors significantly contribute to the development of IBD. Despite its growing prevalence, awareness and understanding of IBD remain limited, as reflected in the responses to our online questionnaire.
Our goal is to educate people about Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) to create a more informed and compassionate society, better equipped to support those living with this chronic condition. By raising awareness, we hope to inspire lifestyle changes that may help reduce the risk of developing IBD. Additionally, providing patients with knowledge on managing their diet, stress, and daily habits can significantly enhance their quality of life. To achieve these objectives, we have planned seven educational activities, with materials tailored to audiences across a wide range of ages.
For more details, please refer to our lesson plan and slides.
1) Education session at Xuhui District Kang Jian
We conducted two offline educational sessions, delivering lectures to children aged 7-10.
Firstly, our team organized a teaching activity at the Kang Jian Community, focusing on primary school students. We prepared a lecture covering the background of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and methods of prevention, along with engaging interactive games to enhance their understanding. The lecture aimed to teach students about the symptoms, causes, and treatments for IBD. To ensure the content was both understandable and interesting for children aged 7-10, we used a variety of visual aids and analogies to simplify complex concepts, linking unfamiliar scientific ideas to their daily lives. To maintain student engagement, we designed multiple interactive activities, including a reflective Q&A competition, a "describe the picture" exercise, and a clay handicraft session. To encourage active participation and keep their attention, we distributed thoughtful souvenirs. Additionally, we provided supplementary information through a roll-up banner and brochures, offering students more in-depth material. The lecture emphasized the importance of diet control in preventing IBD, and we encouraged students to create food models using clay, asking them to reflect on whether their creations could help prevent the disease. Through these interactive teaching methods, we hoped to immerse students in the topic, motivating them to focus, interact, and apply the knowledge gained during the session.
While we prioritized making the lecture engaging and understandable, we realized that this approach somewhat compromised the depth of content. At the end of the session, we interviewed several parents who attended the lecture. One parent suggested that the lecture should have been longer and included more detailed information about IBD.
2) Education Session at Xuhui District Tian Lin
We conducted another lecture at the Kang Jian Community for a new group of primary school students. Taking the feedback from the first session into account, we added more informative content to our presentation and extended the lecture duration. This time, we covered additional details about IBD, such as the classifications of Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, a scientific diet plan, and the differences between mild and severe symptoms of IBD. We continued to use analogies that were understandable to primary school students, and we spent more time introducing and explaining these concepts. We also added a Q&A session and a competitive answering activity to reinforce their understanding. To meet our goal of creating a more informed and compassionate society, we emphasized the importance of diet control and provided guidance on establishing a healthy diet.
We used a K-T board to collect student feedback and interviewed several students and parents for additional insights. During the Q&A activity at the end of the first session in Kangjian community, the students demonstrated a thorough understanding of the concepts taught. They were actively engaged throughout the lecture, participating in the interactive elements and showing genuine interest in the topics and activities. The use of visual aids and analogies effectively captured their attention and made the complex subject matter more accessible. However, as noted by a parent, we initially spent too much time on interactive activities at the expense of more in-depth lecture content. To address this issue, we adjusted the balance by lengthening the lecture duration and shortening the time spent on games, incorporating more detailed content in Tianlin community. We dedicated more time to explaining the concepts and checking the students' understanding. After these modifications, participants gave us a positive reaction and our lecture became more effective, as it reached greater depth in the field of IBD while remaining understandable for primary school students.
Given that IBD most commonly affects individuals aged 30-59, we emphasized to the children the importance of reminding their parents to maintain a healthy diet. Additionally, many parents accompanied their children to the lecture, actively listening and participating in the activities.
3) Education Session at Shang high High School International DivisionOur team presented a lecture on Synthetic Biology with a focus on Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) to the students of Shanghai High School International Division. Our engaging presentation shed light on IBD, an idiopathic condition affecting the ileum, rectum, and colon, with its pathogenesis remaining largely unknown. Despite extensive research, no specific environmental, dietary, or infectious factors have been identified as direct causes of IBD.
We explained that the disease may involve a combination of genetic factors, immune system abnormalities, and environmental influences. They emphasized the role of interleukins, a type of cytokine, in the disease process. Interleukins are proteins that facilitate communication between white blood cells and play a crucial role in regulating immune responses and inflammation.
This informative session hosted by our team was documented and published on Shanghai High School International Division’s official Peer Advisor account on WeChat. It not only increased awareness about IBD but also provided practical advice on preventative measures. Our recommendations, including reducing sugar and salt intake, following a balanced diet, managing stress effectively, and adopting a regular sleep schedule, were well-received by our peers. The students also conducted a Q&A session, allowing for an interactive dialogue that enriched the community's understanding of the disease.
For more information, please refer to our slides
Reflection:
During our lecture on Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) at Shanghai High School International Division, we made use of engaging PowerPoint. The visual aid was not only a helpful tool for summarizing our lecture but also served as a conversation starter during the Q&A session. It was gratifying to see our classmates actively interact with the content and ask insightful questions, demonstrating their interest and understanding. The roll-up banner significantly contributed to the success of our presentation, making it a memorable and impactful educational experience.
Nowadays, social media is a very useful platform for education and promotion, for it has a widespread reach. There are millions of active users on social medias such as WeChat official accounts and XiaoHongShu, which are the platforms we chose to introduce our team to the public and to publish articles to raise people's awareness on IBD. An IBD patient contacted us after viewing our WeChat official account. She expressed her strong interest in our topic and hope to see our product in the market someday. Also, our posts on our WeChat account received many comments from middle-aged people. Our first post on each medias includes introductions on our team in multiple aspects. Later on, the posts are all related to IBD, where we explain what it is, what causes it, what are its mechanisms, and etc. We also give advices on how the IBD patients can deal with this disease by posting recipes that is more ideal for IBD patients. In conclusion, we noticed how numerous people does not know IBD very much and does not know how to avoid getting this disease. Therefore, we decided to spread this piece of knowledge on IBD to let people be aware of this disease and further decreases the incidence of disease.
Here is a brief introduction to the articles we published:1) For a Cure of Crohn’s and Colitis
In this post, we introduced our team and gave a very brief idea of what IBD is like to trigger awareness. We first explained why IBD is something that people should pay attention to, implying our team's purpose - provide the groundwork for the industrial manufacturing of IL-18BP and to introduce new technologies to the treatment of IBD. We then introduced what our team name meant, what inspired us to design our team logo, and what we will do in the future.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/r6k6qbhx4ZvLqtFDVbaATQ
In order to raise people’s awareness on IBD, we need to let people have a basic understanding of what this disease is. Firstly, we examined the causes of IBD. Then, we further elaborated on the types and symptoms of IBD. These are the fundamental knowledge that the audiences need to understand so we can explain more about this disease later.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YydHU2O_mW7bkDIElSGF_Q
After building the basis, we dived deeper into the types of IBD, explaining them in more details, and also explained the mechanisms of IBD. We mentioned how this disease occurs and what impacts it has on patients. IBD is a serious disease that can affect one's daily life to a great extent. Therefore, letting our audiences understand these consequences is very important.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/PreoSjLpgf9yR77s5svy-g
We also wanted our audiences to understand what living as an IBD patient is like. In this article, we explained the dietary considerations of an IBD patient and how this disease may influence the patient's QoL (quality of life). Last but not least, we also aim to encourage the patients to live a quality life despite the challenges.
Since having the correct, healthy diet is important for people diagnosed with IBD, we establish a 5-day nutritious recipe for patients to reference and follow.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/RBOqtCI5m1vmxZc2bWJ3PQ
The treatment that doctors use to cure a patient is a significant aspect of the effectiveness of the medical care. Treatments of IBD should be chosen primarily based on the specific type of IBD the patient is diagosed with. In this article, we mentioned multiple OTC (Over-the-counter) treatments, medications, and even surgeries that can be used to deal with IBD.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/7Kugio8sP4WtS3-nXAr2AQ
To drive back to our product - IL-18BP, we explained more about interleukins (IL) and interleukin-binding proteins. Although interleukins are essential for immune system health, an excess of them can lead to autoimmune disorders. Excessive IL-18 is associated with IBD. IL-18 normally regulates intestinal inflammation, but it can exacerbate symptoms of IBD. hIL-18BPa and hIL-18BPc are two of the IL-18 Binding Proteins (IL-18BPs) that are effective at inhibiting IL-18. One IL-18BP that shows potential in the treatment of IBD and other autoinflammatory illnesses is tabekinig alfa.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/uqWwucQWWRl66hSeJd8nrA
Our music video is an adaptation of "Bohemian Rhapsody." We retained the original melody and crafted our own creative lyrics to explain the symptoms of IBD and the mechanisms of IL18BP. The lyrics, harmonized with the melody, illustrate how IBD disrupts the daily lives of patients, conveying the emotional struggle and melancholy they experience.
2) calendar on public social media
In order to raise awareness among people unfamiliar with IBD and related conditions, we created a calendar highlighting important dates and periods related to bowel health and posted it on the internet. This product is also used as educational material in our offline activities so that bowel health knowldege and awareness can be spread to more people.
3) recipe
After interviewing an IBD patient, we decided to create a diet plan to help prevent and relieve IBD symptoms. We gathered the information we needed to create this dietary plan from stakeholders we interviewed in the past. This diet plan consisted of IBD-freindly dishes at every meal and working days of a week. The IBD- diet summary included at the front of our diet plan shows dietary tips to help prevent IBD and the general logic of an IBD- friendly diet. However, as we learned from the interview, each patient has their own unique dietary needs, meaning there is no one-size-fits-all diet plan. By interviewing more patients and consulting with professors, we summarized their opinions and made the plan as broadly acceptable as possible.
4) brochure
Aiming to introduce our group and product to companies to gain support, the creation of the brochure played an important role in our education plan. It was printed out and distributed to communities, and we also sent this brochure online. Apart from how successful our brochure was, we found it challenging to design the brochure. Specifically, determining how to properly arrange everything within the template became the major issue. Ultimately, we resolved this problem through communication and by rearranging the contents.
5) Roll-up Banner
We utilized a roll-up banner, or standing poster, during our offline activities at Tian Lin, Kang Jian, and Shanghai High School International Division. Standing at 1.8 meters tall, this poster served as an eye-catching visual aid, effectively capturing the attention of our audience. To enhance its appeal, we incorporated large images and prominent logos as decorations. The text was deliberately concise, providing a clear and straightforward summary of our lecture to give viewers a quick and easy introduction to the topic.
The positive feedback from IBD patients, expressing keen interest in our work and hopes for our product's market availability, has been both validating and inspiring. It underscores the importance of our efforts and motivates us to continue contributing to IBD education and treatment. Looking forward, we are committed to refining our educational strategies and exploring innovative methods to enhance public health awareness and support for IBD patients.