The Effect of the Health Literacy Program on Uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients, Ban Haeng Tai Health Promoting Hospital, Ngao District, Lampang Province

Abstract

This quasi-experimental research aimed to study the effect of health literacy program on health literacy among patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes. Purposive sampling was used, to select diabetes patients from Ban Haeng Tai Health Promoting Hospital, Ngao District, Lampang Province.  The patients were then paired into an experimental group and a control group, each consisting of 31 individuals. The research instruments included a health literacy program with a content validity index of 1.00 and health literacy and health behaviors assessment with reliability coefficients of 0.93 and 0.80, respectively. Moreover, fasting blood sugar was tested. Data were analyzed by using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, pair t-test and independent t-test.

The results after the experiment, the experimental group had mean scores of health literacy and health behaviors, both of which were higher than the pre-experiment and more than the control group. Additionally, the experimental group’s mean scores after the experiment for health literacy and health behaviors were higher than those of the control group. The experimental group also had a lower fasting blood sugar level compare to the control group, which was statistically significant at the 0.05 level. conclusion, Health literacy affects self-care behaviors; therefore, it is important to promote and organize health literacy enhancement programs that are tailored to different age groups. These programs should be consistent with the participants' foundational knowledge and utilize teaching materials appropriate for each age group.