The Effectiveness of Program for Health Literacy Development to Reduce Risk of Diabetes in High-Risk Groups of Diabetes in Noon-Kok Sub District, Chaiyaphum Province

Abstract

The prevalence of diabetes in Thailand has risen significantly and poses a serious challenge for public health. Effective interventions to prevent or delay the onset of this chronic condition are essential for preserving the well-being of the patients’ quality of life. This experimental research aimed to explore the outcomes of health literacy development program to reduce the risk of diabetes among the high-risk group in the Non Kok Subdistrict Community, Chaiyaphum. A simple random sampling technique was employed to select the sample for this study. The sample consisted of 50 participants who were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 25) or the comparison group (n = 25). The experimental group participated in the health literacy development program to reduce the risk of diabetes among the high-risk group. The program had been developed by the researcher based on Nutbeam’ s health literacy concept and lasted for 8 weeks. Meanwhile, the comparison group received usual care.  The study tool was the health literacy development program to reduce the risk of diabetes in the high-risk group of diabetes in Non Kok sub-district community. Chaiyaphum Province.  A pretest-posttest design with a questionnaire was employed to collect the data, which were then subjected to descriptive statistics, paired t-test and independent t-test. The findings indicated a significant increase in health literacy scores for the experimental group from pre-test to post-test, whereas the comparison group showed no significant difference. Additionally, the intervention resulted in a significant reduction of the mean diabetes risk score in the experimental group compared to the baseline and the control group. The post-intervention plasma glucose levels at the fingertip were also significantly improved in the experimental group relative to the pre-intervention levels and the control group. The average score for health behaviors among the experimental group was also statistically significantly higher than before the program and the comparison group (p<.001). This research implies that a health literacy development program can be implemented by nurses to mitigate the diabetes risk among vulnerable populations, as well as to prevent and manage other chronic conditions such as hypertension.