Develop The Potential of Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) by Armed with Intellectual Weapons to Produce Academic Work to Solve Health Problems in Urban Areas, Khon Kaen Province

Abstract

This action research aimed to study the situation of VHV capacity development in producing academic works to address local health problems, develop a VHV capacity development model, and evaluate the effectiveness of the model. The research was conducted between December 2024 and June 2025. Ten VHVs were purposively selected based on the specified qualifications. The research instrument used was a VHV academic production competency questionnaire, which yielded a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .84, and a focus group discussion on the problems, obstacles, and needs for producing academic works, which yielded an IOC of .84. Data was collected using focus group discussions, observation, and questionnaires. The research conducted three cycles: 1) study the situation of VHV capacity development in producing academic works to address local health problems; 2) implement the modified VHV capacity development model; and 3) evaluate the effectiveness of the model. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis.

The research results found that 1) the situation of developing the potential of Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) showed that their ability to produce academic work was at a moderate level (=2.58, SD=0.46). VHVs lacked expertise or confidence in the in-depth research process. 2) The model for developing the potential of VHVs included (1) setting policies from superiors, (2) preparing, (3) putting into practice, (4) disseminating results, and (5) positive reinforcement. 3) The effectiveness of the model was found that before development, VHVs had a moderate level of competence (=2.89, SD=0.51). After development, VHVs had a high level of competence (=3.77, SD=0.53), which was statistically significant at the 0.05 level (Z=-2.701, p=.003). This shows that participation in the activity can effectively promote the competence of VHVs in producing academic work.