Development of Prenatal Care Model Health Volunteer Network

Abstract

This action research aimed to: 1) study the situation of prenatal care, 2) develop a prenatal care model, and 3) evaluate the prenatal care model implemented by the health volunteer network. The sample groups consisted of: 1) 70 health volunteers and 2) 10 pregnant women. The research was conducted in 4 stages: planning, action, observation, and reflection. Data was collected using knowledge assessment questionnaire and focus group discussions. The study was conducted from October 2022 to June 2023. Quantitative data analysis compared mean knowledge scores using Paired Samples t-test, while qualitative data underwent content analysis.

The findings revealed: 1) Regarding the community prenatal care situation, problems identified included health volunteers lacking clear practical guidelines, absence of monitoring systems and data registration, and ineffective communication channels, which affected the quality of community prenatal care. 2) The development process of the prenatal care model by the health volunteer network resulted in a model comprising 5 components: 1. Search and monitoring system 2. Health volunteer capacity development 3. Care and counseling 4. Network coordination 5. Monitoring and evaluation. A pregnant women health monitoring form for health volunteers was developed and the model was implemented. 3) Outcome evaluation showed that after training, health volunteers' knowledge increased significantly (p<0.05), and prenatal care coverage increased to 100%. In conclusion, the developed model enhanced health volunteers' capabilities and fostered community participation in prenatal care. Recommendation: This research process can be applied as a guideline for prenatal care in other areas and adapted for similar work to improve operational efficiency.