The Effect of a Health Communication Program for Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) in Khok Thai Subdistrict, Si Mahosot District, Prachinburi Province
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Abstract
Background: Health communication plays a crucial role in promoting public health, as it facilitates the effective transmission of information on disease prevention, medical care, and health promotion to the population. This study aimed to compare the levels of health communication skills among village health volunteers before and after the intervention.
Methods: This study employed a quasi-experimental design with a sample of 37 village health volunteers (VHVs) from Khok Thai Subdistrict, Si Mahosot District, Prachin Buri Province. Participants were selected using simple random sampling through a lottery method without replacement. The research instruments, developed by the researcher, comprised a Health Communication Development Program for VHVs and a questionnaire, which demonstrated a content validity index (CVI) of 0.89 and a reliability coefficient of 0.98. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics with a paired t-test, applying a significance level of 0.05.
Results: The majority of participants were female, with a mean age of 57.24 years. Most had completed upper secondary education, were not engaged in formal employment, had an average of 13.43 years of experience as village health volunteers (VHVs), and had received formal VHV training. After the intervention, the overall mean score for health communication significantly increased ( = 0.55, p-value <0.001) Significant improvements were observed in the communicator component ( = 0.57, p-value = 0.003), context component ( = 0.39, p-value <0.001), message content component ( = 0.65, p-value <0.001), communication channels, activities, formats, and methods component ( = 0.53, p-value <0.001)and evaluation component ( = 0.55, p-value <0.001), All components demonstrated significantly higher scores compared with pre-intervention levels.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the Health Communication Development Program was highly effective in enhancing participants’ knowledge and improving their proficiency across all five dimensions of health communication skills. Moreover, the program can be applied to various health issues that require community engagement, with digital media serving as a supportive tool to facilitate effective communication in diverse contexts.
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