THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HEALTH LITERACY ON FALL PREVENTIONS FOR OLDER PEOPLE IN COMMUNITY HEALTH REGION 4

Abstract

              This research and development study aimed to screen the health literacy on falls and to develop the model of creating health literacy on fall preventions for the independent older people living in the community health region 4. The participants were the independent older people living in the community including 1,720 participants for a quantitative data collection and 327 informants selected by the purposive selection for qualitative data collection. The instruments included: 1) the screening of health literacy on fall preventions questionnaires, and 2) the health literacy on fall preventions interview questions. Data analysis was made for percentage, mean, standard deviation, and paired t-test. The qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis.

              The finding showed that most participants were female. The average age of participants was 69.89 years old. Most participants were healthy, 59.30 %, and the normal movement without aids were 90.10%. 68.62 % of the participants had fall experiences within the past three months. The screening of health literacy on falls found that the overall of the mean in eight provinces of the community health region 4 had a high level in the health literacy on fall preventions, 81.13%. Meanwhile, the participants with a medium level and a low level in the health literacy on fall preventions were 18.52% and .35%, respectively. Then, the model of creating health literacy on fall preventions, consisting of the guideline for screening health literacy on fall, multimedia, health education, family and community participation, and continuous evaluations, were used for participants with a medium and low level of health literacy.  The comparison between before and after using the model of creating health literacy on falls found that there was a difference in the health literacy on falls in participants at a statistical significance level (p < .05).

              This study suggests that the use of model of creating health literacy on fall preventions for the independent older people living in the community should be modified appropriately with each participant and should expand this model in other older people groups.