Effectiveness of enviromental health literacy program of Village Health Volunteers in Laokhwan District Kanchanaburi Province

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of an environmental health literacy program for village health volunteers.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study with one-group pretest posttest design was conducted. The sample consisted of 30 village health volunteers from Laokhwan District, Kanchanaburi Province who were selected purposively. Research instruments included an environmental health literacy program and questionnaires for assessing environmental health knowledge and behaviors. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t-test.

Results: After participating in the program, a majority of participants demonstrated a high level of environmental health knowledge (53.33%) and a high level of environmental health behaviors (73.33%). The mean score of environmental health knowledge post-program was significantly higher than the pre-program score (19.20±2.48 and 14.93± 3.15; p<0.001). Similarly, the mean score of environmental health behaviors post-program was significantly higher than the pre-program score (107.60±5.29 and 91.00± 16.03; p<0.001).

Conclusions: The environmental health literacy program significantly improved the knowledge and behaviors of village health volunteers. Therefore, this program should be implemented for village health volunteers to enhance their environmental health literacy and promote environmental management behaviors. This will enable them to provide guidance to community members and serve as role models for environmental management.