NEWS

ACSDSD representatives join the 51st Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) Conference with the focal theme of SDGs in Reality held at Amari Watergate Bangkok, Thailand, between 20 and 22 November 2019.

ACSDSD exhibits its collective research on corporate sustainability as informed by the Sufficiency Economy philosophy, and debut its sustainable social healthcare enterprise model by showcasing Theptarin Hospital (TRH), a 2019 ASEAN Business Award winner. More details about the robust model development:

TRH is Thailand’s first diabetes center founded in 1985 with a mission to form a multidisciplinary diabetes care model that focuses on enabling people with diabetes to care for themselves. At that time, education for self-care was not in demand, team care approach was not known among Thai health care personnel, and diabetes-specific health care professionals were not available in Thailand.

Even though TRH is running as a private enterprise, its root is for social causes. Withstanding multiple turbulences related to economic and human resources issues, TRH has in 35 years grown from a one-man clinic to a reputable comprehensive hospital that is standing proud with great contributions to the development of diabetes care in Thailand and increasingly the ASEAN region.

TRH pioneering achievements include fostering the birth of three new diabetes-specific professions to Thailand: diabetes educator, dietitian, foot care specialist; and creating and expanding models in multidisciplinary diabetes team care, behavior modification for diabetes control, diabetic foot care, and diabetes prevention. The expansion of models was done through teaching, training, and sharing experiences.

Sufficiency Economy Philosophy in action at TRH includes decision making that is not based on maximizing short-term profits; persevering to do research to develop new knowledge; sharing knowledge and experiences; being ethical; investing heavily in capacity building; and adopting a policy of no risky investment.