Factors associated with dementia screening competency of village health volunteers in an urban primary care unit of Songkhla Province.

Abstract

                 This descriptive correlational research aimed to study the factors associated with village health volunteers’ dementia screening competency in an urban primary care unit in Songkhla Province. Data were collected using questionnaires: the Dementia Knowledge Questionnaire, the Attitude Questionnaire, the Receiving Health Policy Questionnaire, and the Social Support Questionnaires from Nurses, Family, and Friends. The study involved 173 village health volunteers who worked in an urban primary care unit in Songkhla Province. Power analysis, with an effect size of 0.3, an alpha of 0.05, and a power of 0.95, was used to determine the sample size. Multi-stage sampling was employed to select the samples

                  Descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentge, and standard deviation, were used to analyze the characteristics of the samples. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationships between the associated factors and the dementia screening competency of the village health volunteers.  The study showed that several factors were positively correlated with dementia screening competency among village health volunteers. These included: Predisposing Factors: Attitudes towards dementia care (r = 0.16, p ≤ 0.04). Enabling Factors: Receiving health policy support (r = 0.45, p ≤ 0.001) and access to information (r = 0.49, p ≤ 0.001). Reinforcing Factors: Social support from nurses (r = 0.46, p ≤ 0.001), family (r = 0.40, p ≤ 0.001), and friends (r = 0.31, p ≤ 0.001).

                These findings suggest that healthcare providers can consider these factors when seeking to improve the dementia screening competency of village health volunteers.