Initiative urban community based participatory service plan for dengue hemorrhagic fever prevention and control in Nakhonsithammarat city municipality

Abstract

This operational research aimed to develop a community-based participation plan for Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) prevention and control in urban areas. The study site covered urban areas of Nakhonsithammarat city municipality. This research was comprised of 3 phases: 1) studying the community profile 2) development of health service plan, and 3) outcomes of the planning process. The studied community included 40 urban health volunteers from 10 communities with high dengue transmission risk, and 7 health workers from 7 health care facilities in Nakhonsithammarat city municipality. Data collection was carried out through interviews, activity records, participant observation, and focus group discussion. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Paired t-test. Research findings demonstrated that the Appreciation-Influence-Control (AIC) technique could generate the ultimate outcome of initiative urban community based participatory plan for DHF prevention and control in Nakhonsithammarat city municipality. The sampled community established 2 pivotal strategies including risk communication and community engagement. The service plan formulated called “The community state project of DHF prevention and control in dengue high transmission areas of Nakhonsithammarat city municipality”. Project included five main activities: 1) workshop on dengue knowledge enhancement of household leaders 2) environmental cleaning practice in the community 3) aedes larval free household practice 4) risk communication in community, and 5) early dengue disease control. The community involved was able to utilize the plan to apply for grants from Local Health Insurance Fund, for two consecutive fiscal years during 2019-2020. Moreover, the studied community had a high degree of knowledge, awareness, participation showing significant mean scores of post-development process compared to the baseline (p<0.001). The findings and results of the project demonstrated that community participation process could serve as a viable strategy for implementation of dengue disease control in urban community in the future.