Effectiveness of the Health Behavior Promotion Model to Reduce Pesticide Exposure among Longan Farmers Using the Participation of Multidisciplinary Team, Chanthaburi Province

Abstract

The use of pesticides is increasing rapidly. Blood levels of pesticides in farmers at risk and unsafe have risen to a critical level. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of the health behavior promotion model to reduce pesticide exposure among longan farmers using the participation of a multidisciplinary team. This participatory action research to promote the prevention of pesticide exposure behaviors among longan farmers consisted of 4 steps including: 1) setting common goals to prevent harm from pesticide exposure; 2) supporting of participation in pesticide exposure prevention management; 3) encouraging and monitoring to prevent harm from the pesticides exposure; and 4) reflecting together and adjusting to achieve goals. The purposive sampling was used to recruit 18 longan farmers and the multidisciplinary team (the agricultural scholar, the village sage, the representative of Ban Klong-Yai Municipality, the representative of village health care volunteer, and the director of health promotion hospital) for the study. Data were collected using the questionnaires including self-awareness in pesticide exposure prevention, health behavior in pesticide exposure prevention, satisfaction with participating in the project, and focus group interview guide. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, dependent t-test, McNemar's test, and content analysis.

The results reveal that the health promotion model in pesticide exposure protection comprised 4 stages including collaborative goal setting, supporting participation, encouraging and monitoring, and reflecting together and adjusting to achieve the goal attainment to reduce pesticide exposure. After model implementation, the mean score of self-awareness and self-management in pesticide exposure prevention was statistically significantly higher than before (p < 0.001). The mean satisfaction score on participating in the project was at the high level (Mean=4.79± 0.25). The number of longan farmers who decrease the organophosphates in blood level was significantly decreased (p < .05).

The results from this study demonstrated the effectiveness of the model and can be applied to change the behaviors in pesticide exposure protection among farmers in other areas. Further research should continue to monitor the behaviors in pesticide exposure protection and examine the long-term effect of pesticide exposure on the health status of the farmers.