Evaluation of Health Promotion Participation Project among School Children - ประเมินผลโครงการเด็กวัยใสร่วมใจสร้างสุขภาพ

Abstract

             The objective of this one-group pre-post test was to evaluate knowledge and health behaviors of school children related to commonly reported communicable diseases before and after implementation of “Health Promotion Participation Project among School Children” based on the comparison between the incidences of the diseases in them during pre- and post- interventions in the same period of the two consecutive years. In all, 104 preschool and primary school students in Ta- Pang-Moh Temple school in Tambon Pak-Trae, Ranote district, Songkhla Province were included. Their knowledge and health behaviors were assessed via a set of questionaire. In assessment of students health behaviors, during the pre intervention phase, their-correct health behaviors were reportedly limited and likely to lead to adverse health consequences. In that connection, activities to impart information on the commonly found communicable diseases among them in a health rally covering 5 stations of self care, primary prevention and transmission prevention of upper respiratory infection-URI, conjunctivities, chicken pox, acute diarrhea and dental caries. After two weeks a reassessment was carried out. Considerable improvements on their health behaviors were withnessed with increasing proportions of them on hand wash before meals (from 16.8% to 78.1%), hand wash after toilet use (from 64.4% to 80%), wearing protective masks while having URI (from 1.9% to 95.2%), after meal tooth brushing (from 88.5% to 97.1%), using serving spoons (from 39.4% to 77.1%) and to refrain from sharing drinking glasses (from 47.1% to 90.5%). Comparing between December 2006 - June 2007 (pre-intervention phase) and December 2007-June 2008 (post-intervention phase), the incidences of the common communicable diseases among school children remarkably decreased in the post intervention phase including URI (from 66.34% to 27.68%), conjunctivitis (from 14.42% to 5.53%), diarrhea (from 14.42% to 2.68%) and chicken pox (from 8.65% to 1.78%). In conclusion, effective control of commonly reported communicable diseases among students in nurseries and primary schools becomes possible once their advocacies increase through the certain way of providing health education.

Key words: school children, health behavior, communicable diseases