DEVELOPING GUIDELINES FOR PREVENTING TEENAGE PREGNANCY THROUGH COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AT NONGRUA SUBDISTRICT, NONGRUA DISTRICT, KHONKAEN PROVINCE

Abstract

The action research aimed to develop guidelines for preventing teenage pregnancy through community participation in Nong Ruea Subdistrict, Nong Ruea District, Khon Kaen Province. The study was divided into 3 phases: 1) Community situation study phase, with 38 adolescents aged 13-19 years using questionnaires and focus group discussions; 2) Development phase for preventing teenage, including planning phase using the AIC process among 18 community leaders, carrying out activities as designed, observing by visiting adolescent families at home, and reflecting results by holding meetings to return information to the community; 3) Evaluation phase on knowledge, attitudes, adolescent behavior, participation, and satisfaction of community stakeholders, with 250 people, conducted from August 2024 to March 2025. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the mean scores were compared using paired t-test statistics. The research results found that most adolescents were in high school and living with their families. The summary of adolescent problems was as follows: 1) Adolescents themselves had moderate knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in preventing pregnancy; 2) Families had little communication about sex; 3) Lack of access to counseling clinics; and 4) Adolescents did not use their free time effectively. The development of community guidelines has created a project to solve problems in all 4 areas. The evaluation results found that after the implementation, the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in preventing pregnancy increased significantly by 0.05 (p<0.001). The community participated and was most satisfied with most of the activities. The development of guidelines for preventing pregnancy in teenagers has positive effects on both teenagers and those involved. Therefore, the implementation should be expanded to neighboring communities and the monitoring and evaluation period should be extended to produce clearer results.