The Effectiveness of Motivation Enhancing Program for Disease Prevention among Elderly People with Risk of Stroke in Sukhothai Province

Abstract

This quasi-experimental research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a motivation enhancing program for disease prevention among elderly people with risk of stroke. The participants consisted of 52 elderly people with risk of stroke in Sukhothai Province who were equally divided into an experimental group (n = 26) and a control group (n = 26). The research instruments included a motivation enhancing program for disease prevention among elderly people with risk of stroke, a heart disease and stroke risk screening form, a general information questionnaire, a perception and expectation of stroke prevention questionnaire with a reliability of .80, a stroke prevention behavior questionnaire with a reliability of .83, and the equipment for health assessment. The implementation and data collection were conducted from March to June 2020. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and Mann-Whitney U test.

The research results revealed that 1) after the experiment, the experimental group had statistically significantly higher mean scores of perceived severity of stroke, perceived susceptibility of stroke, self-efficacy expectation of stroke prevention behavior, expectation of good outcomes of stroke prevention behavior, and stroke prevention behavior than before the experiment (Z = -4.463, p < .001; Z = -4.464, p < .001; Z = -4.463, p < .001; Z = -4.400, p < .001; and Z = -4.307, p < .001, respectively); and 2) after the experiment, the experimental group had statistically significantly higher mean scores of perceived severity of stroke, perceived susceptibility of stroke, self-efficacy expectation of stroke prevention behavior, expectation of good outcomes of stroke prevention behavior, and stroke prevention behavior than the control group (Z = -4.612, p < .001; Z = -4.978, p < .001; Z = -4.856, p < .001; Z = -4.121, p < .001; and Z = -4.629, p < .001, respectively).

This research suggests that healthcare providers should implement this motivation enhancing program for disease prevention for elderly people with risk of stroke in other settings according to the contexts. This will help the elderly people with risk of stroke enhance their stroke prevention behavior.