Roles of Primary Care Network in Screening and Monitoring the COVID-19 Risk Groups in Three Southern Border Provinces of Thailand

Abstract

This study was a convergent parallel design mixed methods study collecting quantitative and qualitative data in Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat provinces. The study aimed to determine the roles of primary care network in screening and monitoring the COVID-19 risk groups. Purposive sampling and quota sampling were used to recruit samples from two districts with the highest infection rate in each province, 2 subdistricts per district, and a total of 6 subdistricts. The samples were consisted of 80 people per subdistrict, including 10 village health volunteers, 10 local government officials, 10 community leaders, 10 religious leaders, and 10 other people, totaling four hundred eighty-one people for quantitative data collection. A questionnaire on knowledge and practice in screening and prevention in risk groups of COVID-19 was the instrument used. The data collection was from January to December 2021. In parallel 270 people provided qualitative data through either focus group discussions or in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using frequency and percentage, while qualitative data by thematic analysis.

The quantitative results showed that the average scores of primary care network roles for screening and monitoring COVID-19 risk groups were rated as high (mean = 3.19, SD = 0.51). The highest score (mean = 3.33, SD = 0.56) was found for the screening and monitoring of people exposed to COVID-19, followed by the community control of the COVID-19 pandemic and communicating the risk of infection (mean = 3.25, SD = 0.59, mean = 3.22, SD = 0.60 respectively).

Findings from qualitative methods were as follows. 1) Village health volunteers played an important proactive role in screening and monitoring risk groups by zoning households under responsibility, and providing communication on risk of infection. 2) Health professionals had the role of health system management based on cultural beliefs, fostering unity among all professionals, and working proactively to control the spread of COVID-19. 3) Local governments supported people’s daily livelihoods and worked with all sectors in the community. 4) Community leaders supervised people to comply with public health measures, took care of safety and shared household responsibility zoning with village health volunteers. 5) Religious leaders directed people based on Islamic principles and practices to implement public health measures to control the spread of COVID-19 at community acceptance level. The outbreak of COVID-19 in the 3 southern border provinces was under control through synergy of cooperation of primary care networks. These collaborations and participations could be important in other areas of community health management.