Effects of a Community Participation Program Approach on the Health Promoting Behavior and Self-care Behavior of Chronic Disease Patients in Community.

Abstract

The purpose of this quasi - experimental research was to investigate the effect of a community participation program approach on the health promoting behavior and self-care behavior of chronic disease patients in community. The sample consisted of 50 chronic disease patients in Sangthong community of Bangplat district, Bangkok Metropolitan. The community participation program, including community meeting for brainstorming, problem solving, project planning, and evaluation, was used to obtain the data. Research instruments were the questionnaires of health promoting behavior and self-care behavior which were tested for content validity by 3 experts. Cronbach ^,s alpha coefficient were tested for reliability which were 0.87, and 0.79 respectively. Data were collected using the health promoting behavior questionnaire, and self-care behavior questionnaire before and after the program had begun. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-test.

It was found that the mean score of the health promoting behavior and self-care behavior of chronic disease patients after receiving a community participation program was significantly higher than the before receiving the program, at the .01 level. The community participation program could be applied to promote health of chronic disease patients in communities. The key is the process of community involvement, which encourages coordination and participation of the community continually.