The "Hunter's Footprints: Diabetic Foot Resilience Action Project," promoted by Associate Professor Hsin-Yu Lien of the Department of Nursing at Chang Gung University, has long been deeply involved in the Atayal indigenous communities of Fuxing District, Taoyuan City. By integrating medical expertise, local culture, and community power, the project helps residents improve their prevention and care capabilities for diabetic foot through health education, medical care, and talent training, dedicating itself to bridging the urban-rural health gap. Implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through concrete actions, the project was recognized with a Silver Award at the 2026 Taiwan Sustainability Action Awards. This demonstrates the practical achievements of the university partnering with the medical system and local communities to promote health equity and reduce the urban-rural health gap.
Professor Hsin-Yu Lien stated that indigenous health care cannot merely be about bringing medical resources into the tribes; more importantly, it requires understanding the culture and lifestyle of the tribal members, building trust with local partners, and empowering residents with the ability to care for themselves and each other. This award is a shared recognition for all participating teachers, students, medical personnel, and tribal partners. In the future, the team will continue to deepen local cooperation, accompanying tribal members as they gradually transition from passive recipients of medical services to active participants in autonomous health actions.
Professor Lien pointed out that most residents in Fuxing District, Taoyuan City, are indigenous people. Limited by the geographical environment and the accessibility of medical resources, the prevalence of diabetes is as high as 15%. Patients also face health risks such as diabetic foot, severe infections, and even amputation. To respond to the chronic disease care needs in indigenous areas, Chang Gung University integrated cross-disciplinary resources from its College of Medicine, the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism and the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, as well as diabetes educators and wound care nurses. Together, they promote services including foot hygiene care, skin and nail assessment, nerve and vascular function evaluation, blood glucose monitoring, wound care, and chronic disease prevention.
With "local empowerment" at its core, the project leads nursing and medical students into the tribes and Cultural Health Stations. Through home visits, health education, and practical care, it establishes a co-learning mechanism for two-way exchange among medical personnel, students, and residents. This ensures that health promotion is no longer just a one-way transmission of knowledge, but a health action network jointly participated in and built by the community.
In addition to directly serving residents, the team also organizes difficult wound care training for nursing staff at primary health centers and local clinics. This training strengthens their capabilities in foot function assessment, wound dressing changes, and clinical management, and establishes a LINE real-time consultation and feedback mechanism. Frontline care personnel can upload wound images, and the professional team assists in interpretation, provides care protocols and dressing selection advice, and continuously tracks wound healing progress, thereby enhancing the immediacy and continuity of wound care in remote areas.
The Office of Sustainable Development at Chang Gung University stated that to make medical knowledge closer to the life experiences of the tribal members, the team used the "Atayal Hunter's Footprints" as the main theme. By integrating hunting culture, tribal life, and ethnic imagery into health education content, they innovatively developed board games, picture books, dialogue maps, and VR immersive teaching materials. This transforms complex diabetes and foot care knowledge into easily understandable health language with cultural connections, boosting the tribal members' learning motivation, health literacy, and self-care abilities.
Winning the Silver Award at the Taiwan Sustainability Action Awards not only affirms the team's concrete practice of SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 4 (Quality Education), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), but also highlights the significant value of cultural appropriateness in indigenous health care. Chang Gung University will continue to connect the strengths of the university, hospitals, enterprises, and local communities, accompanying tribal members as they transform from recipients of medical services into autonomous health actors, jointly constructing an indigenous care model that embodies health equity, cultural respect, and sustainable resilience.