Development of a Model for Surveillance, Prevention, and Control of Communicable Diseases in Early Childhood Development Centers, Khuan Don District, Satun Province

Abstract

This action research aimed to: 1) study the current situation and challenges in the surveillance, prevention and control of communicable diseases in early childhood development centers; 2) develop a model for surveillance, prevention, and control of communicable diseases in these centers; and 3) evaluate the outcomes of the developed model. The study was conducted in three phases. Phase 1 consisted in synthesizing the current situation and challenges in operations, with a purposively selected sample of 25 participants. Phase 2 was dedicated to developing the model with a sample group of 46 child caretakers. Phase 3 objective was evaluating the outcomes of model with the same group of 46 child caretakers. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis, while quantitative data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, and paired t-tests. The research findings showed as follows.

1. The current situation study revealed that most child caretakers lacked sufficient knowledge regarding disease prevention and control measures. Some critical measures, such as child screening procedures, recording illness symptoms on classroom-specific screening forms, and notifying authorities of sick children, were not implemented correctly.

2. The communicable disease surveillance, prevention, and control model, developed for early childhood development centers in Khuan Don District, Satun Province, comprised four components (the 4G Model), including: 1) good knowledge (enhancing the knowledge of child caretakers), 2) good surveillance system (establishing an effective surveillance system), 3) good report (developing an application for reporting cases of sick children), and 4) good control (implementing efficient disease control measures to prevent outbreaks).

3. In terms of the model outcomes, the results showed a statistically significant improvement (p-value < .001) in participants' knowledge and disease prevention behaviors after implementing the model. Child caretakers expressed high satisfaction with the reporting application. Additionally, there were no reports of center closures due to disease outbreaks in Khuan Don District during the study period, compared to the same timeframe in the previous three years.

The findings suggest that an effective model for surveillance, prevention, and control of   communicable diseases in early childhood development centers should include knowledge enhancement, skills training, clear operational guidelines, and continuous monitoring and supervision.  These activities can help prevent and reduce the incidence of communicable disease outbreaks in early childhood development centers.