Development of the Model for Surveillance, Management and Warning of Unsafe Health Products at Wat Mai Thung Kha Community Clinic, Rattaphum District, Songkhla Province

Abstract

Objective: To develop and evaluate the model for surveillance, management and warning of unsafe health products at Wat Mai Thung Kha Community Clinic, Rattaphum District, Songkhla Province. Methods: This study was two-cycle action research. Research participants were 36 members of the Working Group for the Development of Health Consumer Protection at Wat Mai Thung Kha Community Clinic (the Working Group) consisting of community leaders, village health volunteers, public health officials, teachers, Or Yor Noi teachers, and officials from local administration organization. The researchers presented to the Working Group the data on prevalence of unsafe health products obtained from the activities of health consumer protection in the area. The Working Group, then, participated in formulate the model for surveillance, management and warning of unsafe health products called the WMA model. W or watch consisted of PERN where P (proud) was to create pride for those who watched and warned; E (educate) was to educate using the Scarecrow principle of 6or-6eh; R (reporting system) was to create a reporting system for unsafe health products and N (network) was to create an active surveillance network to identify unsafe health products in the area. M (management) was preliminary management of unsafe health products and the report to the Working Group at the district level. A (alert) was the warning of unsafe health products through the Line group of the Working Group. Evaluation of the model according to the established criteria before and after model implementation for 3 months was conducted using a 20-item knowledge test and rate of report on unsafe health products in various means. Results: After model implementation, the overall mean of knowledge on unsafe health product surveillance of the Working Group increased significantly from 12.65±3.52 to 17.62±2.13 (full score of 20) (P<0.001). The scores in all dimensions of knowledge also significantly increased. Reporting accuracy of unsafe health products increased from 60% to 100%. Alerts to community-level LINE groups Increased from 0% to 100%. Report of the incidence to the Tawai for health increased from 0% to 100%. Conclusions: The WMA model enables the Working Group to be more knowledgeable on the surveillance of unsafe health products. The surveillance, management and warning of unsafe health products improved after its implementation.