Developing Knowledge in Caring for the Health of the Elderly Who Were Dependent on Their Caregivers

Abstract

             The objectives of this study were to assess knowledge of caregivers in caring for the elderly’s health,
and to improve their health literacy on the care for the elderly’s health, as well as to compare the health
literacy before and after using the training program. The samples were 150 caregivers for the elderly
in Khun Han District, Sisaket Province, selected by purposive sampling. Data were collected between
April - May 2023. The tools used in the research were program to develop health literacy in caring for
the elderly, covering 6 parts including: (1) general information, (2) access to health information, (3)
understanding health information, (4) health data analysis, (5) application of health information, and (6)
knowledge in caring for the health of the dependent elderly. Content validity was checked by 5 experts;
and the confidence was tested using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient formula with the score of 0.87. Data
were analyzed using descriptive statistics: frequency distribution, percentage, mean, standard deviation
and compare the means before and after the operation using inferential statistics, the paired t-test. It was
found that most of the caregivers (89.30) had high level of health literacy, with an average health literacy
score of 34.62 (SD=5.12). Most of them (81.30%) had high level of knowledge in accessing health
information, with the average score of 8.95 (SD=1.44); 82.00% had high level of knowledge on health
information, with the average score of 8.95 (SD=1.55); 79.00% had high level of knowledge on health
data analysis, with the average score of 8.29 (SD=1.97), 79.00% hid high level of knowledge on the
application of health information, with the average score of 8.16 (SD=1.85), and 93.3% had moderate
level of knowledge in health care, with the average score of 13.22 (SD=1.51). After using the program
to develop health literacy in caring for the elderly by caregivers, the samples were significantly more
knowledgeable in taking care of the elderly (p<0.05).