Corporate Social Responsibility

 

Social Responsibility is one of Theptarin’s core values.  Though a private institution, we are determined to serve the community at large.  Our expertise is in the care of diabetes.  Our goal is not only to provide best service to our clients, but also to be the model for other institutions.  We are working to raise the standard of diabetes care throughout Thailand.

We believe that teamwork in diabetes care is the gold standard and direction to go.  The first step we took was to build our own diabetes team model so others can learn from and adapt to fit their environment.  As professions such as diabetes educator and dietitian were not known or trained locally, we had no option but to train them in-house.  Today, teamwork concept is widely accepted among health care professionals and Theptarin diabetes care team is well recognized throughout Thailand and neighboring countries.

As a model diabetes team, we have received visitors from more than a hundred hospitals from all areas in Thailand and abroad such as Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Laos.  Our 20-year experience provides ideas for shortcuts to building successful diabetes teams.

Diabetes educators and dietitians are vital members of the diabetes teams but there was no formal training of these professions in Thailand.  Theptarin acts as a philanthropic organization to foster trainings of these in-demand professions by coordinating different sectors, namely universities, professional associations, private enterprises such as pharmaceutical or medical device companies, and Ministry of Public Health.

 

Current Situation

Thailand’s academic and technology advancement has reached international standard.  However, majority of population does not benefit from such development.

Universities – acquire world-class knowledge but lack outreach network to the community for implementation in practical settings.

Professional Organizations - are clusters of academia from universities.  Identical to universities, professional organizations lack outreach network to the community.

Private Enterprises – such as pharmaceutical or medical device companies generally allocate budget for philanthropic purposes but face difficulties in locating projects which will benefit community at large.  Currently the funds are mostly used to support universities and professional organizations on various academic activities.

Ministry of Public Health - has the network to the community but lack up-to-date knowledge.

Thailand has all key elements necessary for raising diabetes care standard.  However, she lacks an organization that pulls all parties together and work towards the same goal.  This role of coordinating various parties for better diabetes care in Thailand is Theptarin’s Philanthropic commitment.

 

Past Example of Theptarin’s Philanthropic Projects

Coordinate with Universities for the formal production of healthcare professionals in diabetes care.

• Supported Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University in designing a curriculum for master degree in dietetics.  Signed MOU to be a training facility for program students.
• Inspired the Faculty of Allied Sciences, Chulalongkorn University in designing a curriculum for bachelor degree in dietetics.
• Provide practical trainings in nutrition and dietetics for students from Mahidol and Chulalongkorn Universities.
• Coordinate with the Faculty of Allied Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, in a research project on exercise in diabetes patients.

Coordinate with professional organizations to promote teamwork in diabetes care.

• Founded and actively participate in the administration of Thailand Diabetes Educators Association which currently takes the role of producing diabetes educators.
• Took the chairman role of the Association of Thailand Geriatrics and Gerontology, promoting the teamwork approach for better quality of life in the elderly.
• Take the chairman role of the Nutrition Association of Thailand, pulling all nutrition-related fields together and prepare Thailand to be the host of 2009 International Congress of Nutrition.

Coordinate with private enterprises to ensure philanthropic funding will benefit community at large.

• Coordinated with GSK and Johnson & Johnson to publish advertorials on diabetes prevention in various Thai newspapers and magazines.
• Coordinated with Terumo in training diabetes teams in all parts of Thailand.
• Coordinated with Johnson & Johnson and other ASEAN counties in establishing ASEAN standard for diabetes educator certification.
• Coordinated with Abbott Nutrition in organizing events to promote diabetes prevention for the public.

Coordinate with the Ministry of Public Health to provide knowledge to healthcare personnel.

• Organized diabetes care training courses for personnel from the Ministry of Public Health.
• Guided the Thai College of Family Physicians in writing a new curriculum to strengthen the competency in managing primary care units.
• Coordinated with National Health Security Organization in organizing training courses in behavior modification activities for healthcare personnel from all parts of Thailand.

 

Related Article :

Theptarin Journey: From a Model Diabetes Care to a Philanthropic Organization