Effects of Village Health Volunteer Capacity Development Program on Multifactorial Fall Prevention in Elderly in Chonburi Province

Abstract

This quasi-experimental research aimed to examine the effects of village health volunteer capacity development program on multifactorial fall prevention in elderly. Totally sixty village health volunteers, who had work experiences at least one year, were purposively recruited. Participants were divided into two groups (Thirty participants of each group). The experimental group received the capacity development program, comprising four program activities, arranged one activity a week for four weeks, whereas the control group received only routine health education by primary care unit. Data were collected using questionnaires which consisted of five parts including personal information, knowledge test, skill assessment, perceived self-efficacy and ability regarding elderly’s fall prevention questionnaires. General information was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the comparison of the average scores between before and after intervention were analyzed using Independent Sample t–test and Paired Sample t-test.

The findings found that, after intervention, the average score of knowledge, skill, perceived self-efficacy and ability regarding elderly’s fall prevention in the experimental group were significantly better than the baseline and better than the control group, with statistical significance at p < 0.05.

The findings suggested that this program can be valuable for public health and related sectors in term of applying as a village health volunteer training program to prepare them to fulfil their work potential in elderly’s fall prevention effectively. Consequently, the elderly in the community may reduce the risk of falls and have a better quality of life.