Development of the prevention and control model for hand, foot, and mouth disease in child care center, Sadao District, Songkhla Province

Abstract

This action research aims to develop a model and evaluate its effectiveness for the prevention and control of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) in child care center. This study included 65 children with 65 parents and 15 caregivers conducted from April to September 2017. The model development comprised 4 phases: (1) planning, (2) action, (3) observation, and (4) reflection. The research tools were the questionnaire regarding knowledge of HFMD, the questionnaire regarding the participation of care givers, the observation form regarding health behaviors, the assessment form regarding sanitary child care, the questionnaire relating care givers participation, as well as the observation form regarding surveillance data for HFMD. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and expressed as the percentage, mean and standard deviation. The effectiveness of the developed model was determined by a paired t-test and one-way repeated measures ANOVA at a significant level of 0.05. After five months of operation, most of caregivers and parents have the knowledge at a high level and the health behaviors of children and caregivers were improved. The care givers participation was increased; the sanitation and surveillance system were significantly improved compared to the pre-developed model at a significant level of 0.05. Importantly, the developed model successfully reduced the incidence rate of illness in children, compared with the same period of the past three years. Therefore, the developed model could be an alternative approach for the prevention and control of HFMD in other child care centers with similar contexts.