Factors Affecting the Leave for Knowledge Development of Officials of the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand

Abstract

This quantitative research aimed to study the management on the leave of officials of the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, and to identify factors affecting the leave. The sample was 263 officials of the Department of Disease Control selected by stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected by face-to-face and telephone interviews using a questionnaire regarding factors affecting the leave for knowledge development of which the reliability was 0.9. Data were analyzed by using mean, standard deviation, t-test, One-way ANOVA and multiple regression analysis. The results showed that the opinions of officials on management and the leave for knowledge development were at high level. The officials with education level higher than master degree had significantly higher proportion of the leave for knowledge improvement (p<0.01). Using multiple regression analysis, it was found that competency and compensation significantly influenced the leave for knowledge improvement (p<0.01). It was recommended that the Department of Disease Control should set specific training courses for both technical and technical personnel. Policies or criteria should be devloped for officials to leave for improving advanced and modernized knowledge of the 21st century. In addition, factors affecting the leave for the development of knowledge, such as organizations culture, satisfaction, commitment, etc. should be considered to promote the leave for knowledge improvement.