The influence of social support towards the preventive behavior of coronavirus disease 2019 of the older adults in the community at the border of Tak Province
Keywords:
Community at the border, Older adults, Coronavirus disease 2019 preventive behaviours, Social supportAbstract
Older adults are more likely to be at risk from the infection of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and are positioned as more potentially deadly than any other age group. This infection can be prevented by appropriate preventive behaviors. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the factors that influenced COVID-19 preventive behaviors of the older adults in the community at the border of Tak Province. The sample of 316 participants was randomly selected using systematic sampling. Data were collected from August 1st to October 31st, 2021 by the structured interview questionnaire that confirmed the validity and reliability. Data were analyzed by percentage, mean, standard deviation, and stepwise multiple regression.
The study showed that the samples had a high level of esteem support in terms of acceptance and appreciation of the preventive behavior of COVID-19, involvement as a member of community support, financial instrument and services support, and information support with values of 80.4 70.3 57.6, and 77.2%, respectively. The appropriate preventive behavior of COVID-19 was found at the high level of 84.5%. In addition, the result revealed that esteem support, financial instrument, and services support, and information support could predict the preventive behavior of COVID-19 accounting for 36.7%. The results suggested that health authorities should enhance three dimensions of social support to enable appropriate COVID-19 preventive behaviors among the older adults.
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