Factors Influencing Competency of 70 Hours Trained Care Givers under Long Term Care Policy in Regional Health 4, Thailand

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate factors affecting work performance of caregivers who completed the 70-hour elderly care training program. The sample consisted of 232 elderly caregivers who had completed the 70-hour training program and were currently working in Health Region 4, selected through multi-stage sampling. Data were collected using questionnaires with IOC ranging from 0.67-1.00 and reliability coefficients for knowledge, attitudes, internal and external locus of control, social support, and competency of 0.80, 0.79, 0.75, 0.79, and 0.94, respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including frequency distribution, percentages, means, and standard deviations, and multiple regression analysis.

The results revealed that the majority of elderly caregivers were female (93.10%), with a mean age of 56 years, secondary education level (53.00%), monthly income between 5,000-15,000 baht, and 1-4 years of caregiving experience (67.70%). Most had fair attitudes toward elderly care (71.60%), high to severe stress levels (37.10%), high family support (70.70%), moderate community support (65.10%), and moderate to high support from care manager (97.00%). The majority of caregivers demonstrated high competency levels (64.70%). Three factors were identified as significant predictors of caregiver work performance: age ( β = 0.173, P-value=0.003), community social support (β = 0.361, P-value < 0.001), and social support from care management system (β = 0.259, P-value<0.001). These variables collectively explained 26.80% of the variance in caregiver competency (R²=0.268).