Thailand Journal of Health Promotion and Environmental Health-วารสารการส่งเสริมสุขภาพและอนามัยสิ่งแวดล้อม

Effects of Hand Foot Mouth Preventive Behavior Program Through Online Media for Parents of Preschool Children, Chiang Rai Province

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

This quasi-experiment study with two groups pretest-posttest design was to examine the effects of online media for preventing HFMD on knowledge, self-efficacy, behaviors, and disease occurrence in parents of preschool children in Chaing Rai province. The program developed from the Social Cognitive Theory and Health Belief Model. The experimental group received five activities in the program. Data were collected between July to September 2022. The statistics for the data analysis were percentage, mean, standard deviation, and t-test. The results showed that the experimental group had a significantly higher knowledge score, self-efficacy in performing preventive behaviors, and prevention behavior than the comparison group (p-value <0.05). In addition, the program can increase knowledge, efficacy, and behaviors in preventing HFMD.

The Development of Community Infectious Waste Management Model in Phuket Province

Supaluck Dumrongchua — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

This action research is primarily aimed at developing a community infectious waste management model. The research also involves preparing and providing support for the developing of community infectious waste management model in Phuket province. The effectiveness of the implemented model is evaluated. This assessment is done through various means, including: An observation form is used to assess the operation of the infectious waste management in 12 communities. These communities are located in four local administrative organizations of varying sizes. The research assesses the knowledge and practices of 211 individuals involved in infectious waste management. This assessment is done through a questionnaire, and the Cronbach's Alpha coefficient for the total scale was 0.89. Data collected from 2022 to 2023. Qualitative data were analyzed according to the study objectives, additionally, comparison statistics are employed using the Paired samples t-test to assess the effectiveness of the implemented model. The findings revealed that an appropriate and safe community infectious waste management model must obviously involve community participation and defined roles and duty for those involved. It should include proper procedure guidelines for separation, collection, transportation, and disposal of infectious waste. This is accomplished through the mechanism of a provincial-level committee, strengthening the network of community infectious waste management, and communication to promote health literacy about the infectious waste management to public. The results of the effectiveness assessment reveal that the majority communities and related organizations were able to follow the established model. However, there were issues related to provide materials and equipments to the communities and ensuring sufficient infectious waste disposal points coverage in some areas. Additionally, some individuals within the community did not use proper labeling to indicate infectious waste, and there were instances of general waste mixed with infectious waste. Regarding the level of knowledge and behavior practices of people, the research found that after the intervention, the community's knowledge and behavior practices related to infectious waste management were statistically significant improved (p<0.05). Therefore, it is recommended that communities and relevant organizations should continue working together. They should collaborate to analyze and address issues in areas that is still lacking implemented to ensure that all infectious waste is managed correctly.

Development of Medical Waste Management System for Hospitals in Thailand

Preeyanuch Buranapakdee — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

This mixed-methods research design primarily aimed at developing a medical waste management system for hospitals. The study spanned from 2019 to 2021 and was divided into three phases. The initial phase involved an investigation into the medical waste management practices within hospitals. Qualitative data were gathered from a diverse set of 10 hospitals, encompassing varying sizes and levels of healthcare facilities. A questionnaire was administered to collect health-related information from 200 waste management personnel. Furthermore, quantitative data were obtained through surveys conducted across 377 hospitals of varying sizes and levels. These collected data were subsequently analyzed to progress to the second phase, which focused on research and development aimed at creating digital tools for the management of hazardous waste. Additionally, during this phase, an appropriate medical waste management model tailored for hospitals was developed. The third phase encompassed the implementation and evaluation of the developed digital tools and the medical waste management model. Both qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed in accordance with the study's objectives. The findings revealed that most hospitals had a designated team responsible for healthcare waste management, typically operating in the form of a committee with varying titles. Concerning waste categorization, most of hospitals classified waste into five categories: infectious waste, general waste, hazardous waste, recyclable waste, and organic waste. General waste was found to be the most prevalent waste type generated. The waste generation rate ranged from 0.23 to 1.89 kilograms per service. Regarding wastewater management, the hospital's wastewater generation rate varied from 0.09 to 5.00 cubic meters per bed-day. Health-related information indicated that employee healthcare behavior and occupational disease prevention were at a high level, with rates of 50% and 66%, respectively. The development of a medical waste management system for hospitals comprised digital tools in the form of software designed for hazardous waste management. Upon implementation in 535 hospitals, it was observed that, as of June 2023, a total of 168,432 kilograms of hazardous waste had been recorded in the program. The predominant type of hazardous waste was medical supplies, accounting for 45% of the total. The hospital's medical waste management model consisted of three key elements: management, necessitating the establishment of policies and roles in waste management; principles of medical waste management, which encompassed segregation, collection, transportation, and disposal; and appropriate approaches to medical waste management, involving correct and safe practices categorized by waste type. Consequently, it is recommended that hospitals adopt a standardized medical waste management system, with a primary focus on waste reduction and source segregation.

The management of health services during climate change relating flood disasters in the context of a community hospital in the basin of the Mun river areas, Sisaket Province

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

The purpose of the participatory research is to study the situation, analyze the situation, develop guidelines and evaluate health service system management in climate change scenarios for flood disasters in the basin of Mun River areas community hospital context in Sisaket Province. The study process consists of four steps: Step 1) Study and analyze a situation, Step 2) Planning step 3) Compliance with plan, and Step 4) Evaluation. The study was conducted in the flood-hit area of 1 community hospital. A total of 20 informants were provided by collecting data between September 2022 and February 2023 through in-depth interviews with participatory and non-participatory observation groups. The quality of the instrument is verified by obtaining a content-matching value IOC = 0.66 to 1.00, and the reliability of the data is verified by the triangulation method. Research results analyze information by means of a content 1) Problems in the management of systems for forecasting and analysis of severity situations, problems with knowledge service providers, predictions and health care practices when disasters occur that require support for services that correspond to actual conditions. 2) here are 3 components in the context of community hospital management: people or users of community hospitals and related government agencies. There are (4) stages of health service management: (1) pre-disaster or mission box preparation, (2) pre-disaster plans, (3) critical phases. At the time of disaster or operation of the mission statement operation box, (4) recovery phases after disaster or review phase of the mission statement operation and take lessons off. 3) Health Care Guidelines show that community hospitals have set up a policy-based implementation committee using a task box to enhance the delivery capabilities of transportation and networking, collaborate and facilitate health care services in China.96.78 percent were satisfied with the service. The research can be used as a guideline for health care services in the context of community hospitals.

The results of gamication learning methods in the development of oral health literacy among primary school children in Phrae Province

Khwanhathai Mongkol, Sukjittra Wanapirak, Nattaya Khamhang — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

This research is a quasi-experimental study using a Two Group Pretest-Posttest Design. The objective of this study was to assess the results of gamification learning methods in the development of oral health literacy among primary school children in Phrae Province. The sample group consists of 360 5th-grade students, divided into two groups. The control group received regular oral health education, while the experimental group received knowledge through a gamification learning process involving active learning. Data was collected using the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Dentistry for Primary School Children (P-TOFHLiD) before and after the experiment. Statistical analyses, including percentages, means, standard deviations, paired t-tests, and independent t-tests, were conducted. Comparing the mean total oral health literacy scores between the experimental group and the control group the results showed that before the experiment, there was no significant difference in the mean scores between the two groups. However, after the experiment, there was a statistically significant difference in the mean scores (p-value=0.01). Comparing the mean oral health literacy scores in Part 4 : food that causes the tooth decay between the two groups after the experiment, was also significantly different (p-value=0.01). This gamification learning method is an active learning aimed to communicate cariogenic foods. Under the conditions and context of the target students this gamification is effective to enhance basic oral health literacy among primary school children

The situation of physical activity and sedentary behavior in each regional health areas of Thailand

Udom Asawutmangkul, Thitikorn Topothai — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

Physical inactivity and sedentary behavior are significant risk factors for various non-communicable diseases. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of combined physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns in every regional health areas. We analyzed data from the nationally representative 2021 Health Behavior Survey conducted by the Thailand National Statistical Office. The Global Physical Activity Questionnaire was used. Participants were categorized into one of four movement patterns: highly active/low sedentary, highly active/highly sedentary, low active/low sedentary, and low active/highly sedentary. Multinomial logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with each group of four movement patterns. Among the 78,717 individuals included in the study, the majority of participants were categorized as being highly active/highly sedentary (54.6%). Living in regional health areas 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13 had significantly higher likelihoods of belonging to this group compared to living in regional health area 1. This study showed a positive combined physical inactivity and sedentary behavior patterns among Thai adults. However, a significant proportion exhibits concerning habits.

Development and Validation of a 17 item Short-Form Health Literacy Questionnaire for Thais aged 15 years and above

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

A follow-up national health literacy (HL) survey would take place during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a need for a shorter form derived from the health literacy questionnaire used in the previous survey. This study aimed to develop and validate a short-form HL questionnaire derived from the health literacy questionnaire used in the first survey in 2019. The data from the 2019 HL survey were used to select representing items for four health domains and four HL skills. Validation of the short-form questionnaire was carried out using cognitive interviewings, field tests in six provinces, exploratory factor analysis, principal factor analysis, and internal consistency. Based on the responses from 180 participants from six provinces, a 17 item HL questionnaire was developed and validated. It showed satisfactory psychometric properties in terms of the content validity retaining the same conceptual framework used in the 2019 HL survey. The short-form had three domains with sufficient internal reliability scores (Access to reliable health information, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.82; Asking for clarification, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.78; Use of health information for making decisions, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.84). It can be concluded that the 17 item HL questionnaire was demonstrated to be a valid and reliable tool for a follow-up national HL survey during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The effect of high tide-low tide on well water quality Mueang District, Chumporn province

Chaovayut Pornpimonthape, Tunyaporn Wattananan, Duangta Kitkaew, Suntorn Pimnon — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0700

The purpose of this study was to analyze an effect of rising and falling sea levels on groundwater qualities from different wells in Chumphon province. The water samples were collected from (1) three wells (no.1, 2, 3) which were not more than 2 km, from the sea and (2) three wells (no.4, 5, 6) which were located more than 10 km. from the sea. A total of 12 samples of water were collected twice a day from six wells and were analyzed for Chloride (Cl-), pH, Temperature (Temp.) Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), and Electrical Conductivity (EC). The results showed a significant difference of Cl- and temp when compared between rising and falling sea levels without consideration of distance. The mean value of Cl- from all six wells was 3.04 mg/l and the average temperature was 1.44 ºc. There were no significant differences for the other three variables (pH, TDS, and EC). The chloride concentration was between 16.0-8.0 mg/l, which was lower than the World Health Organization standard chloride value of 250 mg/l. The pH was in a range of 5.3-7.3, total dissolved solids were 19.5-264, Electrical conductivity was between 48-541 μs/m, and the temperature was 27.2-30.55 ºc. It was found that the water quality of well 1, well 3, and well 5 had pH values of 5.3, 6.2 and 6.0, respectively, which is lower than the standard for groundwater quality. This could be because all three wells are located at the 16th and 25th soil series, Which has highly acidic properties.