Vineet Singal takes the stage in Tampa Bay to promote patient empowerment through education

Squinting at the lights which masked the large audience in the darkness beyond, Vineet Singal took his place in front of the crowd. Sweaty palms betrayed his nerves. “Don’t stare, but don’t look at your feet. Don’t slouch, but don’t be stiff. Don’t speak quickly, but not too slowly. And remember. Breathe.”

So began the TEDx talk by Singal ’12, on April 22 in Tampa Bay, Fla. TEDx was created as part of TED, a nonprofit devoted to sharing “ideas worth spreading” through conferences in which a range of speakers give talks on topics they are passionate about. TEDx was specifically designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to present ideas through conferences at the local level. As the executive director of Anjna Patient Education, Singal attended this conference to give a talk about this nonprofit organization, which he co-founded with Donovan Barfield ‘12.

Singal and Barfield founded Anjna Patient Education in 2010 in order to break the cycle of preventable chronic disease. The organization aims to increase access to quality health education programs for underserved populations at free clinics. Anjna develops and distributes health education material to patients that is translated into 15 different languages. It also trains clinic volunteers and health educators with a health curriculum through local Anjna chapters at universities.

At the TEDx conference, Singal spoke about the inspiration for Anjna and its goals. The idea for Anjna came to Singal when he took a leave of absence in the fall of 2009 to work full time at St. Vincent’s House Free Clinic in Galveston, Tx.

At that time, Galveston was a community ravaged by Hurricane Ike and the failing economy. St. Vincent’s lacked the resources to keep up with the demand. Here, Singal worked in close contact with patients by taking vitals, doing case histories and performing physical exams.

“Every day, I saw patients suffering from obesity and stress-related diseases,” he said. “There are terrible consequences, leading to amputation, blindness and heart failure. What I found in speaking with these patients was that most of them had a poor diet and did not do any exercise, which contributed to the chronic diseases.”

Singal realized that what was missing at the clinic was the education component of patient counseling. Singal successfully sought permission to launch a health education program within the clinic.

In the summer of 2010, Singal expanded upon the St. Vincent’s health education program by starting Anjna Patient Education with Barfield at Stanford.

“The issue of quality healthcare for medically underserved populations resonated deeply with me, and I wanted to help improve the existing health education infrastructure for free clinic patients,” Barfield said. “Vineet and I started Anjna Patient Education working as just us two in a one-room double at Crothers Memorial. Now it has grown to well over 100 volunteers with support from highly regarded organizations.”

Anjna is currently in the process of branching out to other universities. The first chapter was formed by Chis Itoh at UC-Berkeley, and the next chapter will be started at San Jose State University in the upcoming months, Barfield said.

In the future, the organization plans to utilize new methods — including Short Messaging Service (SMS) and iPad technology — to improve health education by harnessing the technology and expertise available at Stanford and in the Silicon Valley, according to Singal.

Megan Winkelman ’13 currently leads the interactive health module project by building interactive iPad apps for health education, specifically designed for low-literacy populations.

“I’m interested in using education of the health care system to empower patients, in the hopes that education will help them see their health as within their own control,” Winkelman said. “This tool is empowering for the patient, efficient for the health care practitioner and cost-effective for the health care provider as it leads to more accurate diagnosis and more effective treatment.”

After spending nearly 150 hours preparing, refining and rehearsing the talk for TEDx, Singal said that he hoped he conveyed a message that people could take home regardless of their background and that this talk might inspire audience members to take action.

“I wanted to … do justice to the cause that I am representing,” he said. “I felt like I was the messenger. I wasn’t Vineet Singal at the talk. I was someone talking about the issues surrounding chronic disease in America, especially from a student perspective.”