The effectiveness of the Early Childhood Development Promotion by the Child and Family Development Team in Mueang Chaiyaphum District

Abstract

Background: In Mueang Chaiyaphum district, 69.0 percent of preschool-aged children exhibit developmental delays. Appropriate stimulation and support of development can decrease the problem effectively.

Objective:  To compare the development of children before and after receiving the Early Childhood Developmental Promotion (ECDP) provided by Mueang Chaiyaphum District’s Child and Family Development Promotion Team.

Methods:  The quasi-experimental one-group with pretest-posttest design study measured before and after the experiment. The sample comprised 49 preschool children aged 24-60 months in the early childhood development centers in Mueang District, Chaiyaphum Province. The research instrument used was the Developmental Surveillance and Promotion Manual (DSPM). The assessment of the ECDP's effectiveness involved comparing the developmental rates of children based on the DSPM measurement criteria before and two months after the experiment. The data analysis utilized Descriptive Statistics and the Binomial exact probability test, with a significance level set at 0.05.

Results: Findings revealed that the child developmental rate of the samples that met the DSPM measurement criteria statistically significantly increased. The overall development was 28.5% : 65.3%. When considering separate areas of development, it showed that the language comprehension development was 63.2% : 93.8%; the language usage development was 75.5% vs. 93.8%; and the self-help skills development was 65.31% : 85.71%.

Conclusion:  The early childhood development promotion by the Child and Family Development Team in Mueang Chaiyaphum District is effective in enhancing the development of preschool-aged children within Mueang District of Chaiyaphum Province. Therefore, it is recommended to have a Child and Family Development Team in each of the other areas later on.