A systematic review of the prevalence of limited health literacy in Southeast Asian countries.

Low health literacy is a barrier to public health efforts worldwide. Agricultural workers have an elevated risk for lower health literacy, with important health implications because of their potential exposure to harmful chemicals. The Asian Health Literacy Survey (AHLS) has been developed and translated for use in several different Asian countries and is standardized for easy comparisons across regions. However, it has not been translated for use in Thailand. The purpose of this study was to (1) to determine the health literacy of rural Thai farmers in Northern Thailand, and (2) identify correlates of health literacy within this group. Internal consistency of the Thai AHLS translation was "excellent" (alpha = 0.92). Descriptive results showed that health literacy was relatively high (M = 34.98/50, SD = 6.87). Education, income, working as a village health volunteer, age, length of time farming, no chemical use in farming, health, and pesticide screening were statistically significant correlates of health literacy (R2 = 0.19). Thai farmers had higher health literacy than reported for several other Asian countries. Results may be used to inform the design of future health promotion programs.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7071/pdf

Correlates of Health Literacy among Farmers in Northern Thailand.

Purpose




The purpose of this paper is to study and compare knowledge and skills in basic care for the dependent elderly of health volunteers before and after the increase in ability program participation.




Design/methodology/approach




Quasi experimental research includes one group pretest-posttest design. The research was conducted from January to March 2018. The samples were 30 health volunteers in Nakorn Pathom Province selected by purposive sampling. They were all female, aged 20–50 years, with minimal education level of early secondary school and were current or former health volunteers. The increase ability program consisted of lecture and skill practice by demonstration and individual replay demonstration. The program duration was 30 h with 19 h of skill practice and 2 days of site visit to the dependent elderly’ homes. The tool for collecting data was a questionnaire for the evaluation of knowledge and skills in basic care for the dependent elderly. The data were analyzed by means, standard deviation and paired t-test.




Findings




After the increase in ability program participation, the health volunteers had very good level of knowledge in basic care for the dependent elderly with statistical significance (p<0.01) and had most correct skills in basic care for the dependent elderly with a score of 9 from 11 items.




Originality/value




Knowledge and skills in basic care for the dependent elderly of the health volunteers increased to a very good level after program participation. Thailand should provide periodic and continuous training program to increase health volunteers’ knowledge and skills in basic elderly care to provide care for the elderly with most benefits.

Effectiveness of increase health volunteer ability program in basic care for the dependent elderly in the communities, Nakhon Pathom Province, Thailand

Purpose




The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of mindfulness practice on health behaviors and quality of life (QOL) among hypertensive patients.




Design/methodology/approach




A quasi-experimental research was designed by before, after and a follow-up phase (i.e. on the 0th, 6th and 12th weeks). Two primary health care units (PCU) were selected as control and experiment groups. Samples included patients 35–59 years old who had been diagnosed with stage I hypertension. Both groups received treatment according to standard hypertension guidelines. The experimental group was added as a drill for the purpose of a mindfulness-based health education (MBHE) practice that would emphasize behavior skills (in diet, exercise and mental function) and instill a feeling of adaptation to everyday life.




Findings




The total mean score of the prevention and promotional hypertension behaviors (PPHB), QOL, perceived in mindfulness (MF) and self-efficacy (SE) in the experiment group showed a significant statistical difference when compared to the control group in the 6th week in PPHB and SE (p<0.001), QOL and MF (p=0.001). Similar results were found in the 12th week in PPHB, QOL, SE (p<0.001) and MF (p=0.023), respectively.




Research limitations/implications




However, finished implementation in experiment group, during the follow-up phase on the 12th week, ten participants in the control group were excluded (Figure 1). It may be no active intervention or as usual in the control group. Thus, the authors controlled missing data using intention-to-treat analysis comparison and the data distribution was successfully tested by a normality plot before the use of statistical data. Based on the results of this study, the following recommendations can be made: patients should practice in mindfulness in lifestyle modification continued for intensive skill practice over the long term in order to promote sustainability in behavior and in QOL.




Practical implications




Mindfulness trainer should drill and faith in the value of mindfulness corporation owner with patients learning all of the times; and for health practitioner, it should add MBHE for patients.




Social implications




Education institution should add mindfulness in educational programs all of graduates.




Originality/value




The mindfulness practice-based health education training should be in counterpart with modern medicine in order to promote sound health behaviors and an improved QOL for stage I hypertensive patients and to forestall cardiovascular and blood-pressure diseases.

/pdf/effects-of-mindfulness-based-health-education-practice-on-3gbfor6kjz.pdf

Effects of mindfulness-based health education practice on health behaviors and quality of life among hypertensive patients: A quasi-experimental research

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors related to flood preparedness literacy and the relationship between flood preparedness literacy and behaviors. METHODS A quantitative descriptive correlational study. The sample included 134 people residing in a central Thai province. Descriptive statistics, point-biserial correlation coefficient, and Spearman's rank correlation were used in the data analysis. RESULTS The results revealed that the factors related to flood preparedness literacy with a statistical significance were marital status (rpb = 0.207; P < 0.01), hearing ability (r = 0.197; P < 0.05), instrumental activities of daily living (r = 0.226; P < 0.01), and social support (r = 0.388; P < 0.01). Flood preparedness literacy was correlated with flood preparedness behaviors (r = 0.281; P < 0.01). CONCLUSION The factors related to flood preparedness literacy as mentioned above should be assessed to identify vulnerable groups for specific care provision. Furthermore, nurses should promote these factors to contribute to effective responses during flood disasters.

Flood Preparedness Literacy and Behaviors in Community Dwelling Older Adults.

Background: Thailand’s population is rapidly aging as a consequence of sustained declines in fertility and improvement in longevity.  In spite of growing attention among Thai health practitioners for improving health literacy on health outcome across country, information about the status of health literacy in Thailand remains scarce.  The objectives of this study were to assess the level of health literacy and determine the demographic characteristics associated with health literacy among Thai older persons. Methods : The health literacy survey was conducted in 440 Thai older persons.  The respondents were randomly selected.  Data collection was based on the Thai elder health literacy questionnaire in paper-assisted personal interviews.  The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the status of health literacy were categorized into three levels included functional, interactive, and critical health literacy.  The Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test were used to determine the associations among the factors related the health literacy. Results: The Thai elder health literacy questionnaire covered two levels of health literacy: functional, and interactive level.  The 2 in 440 (0.5%) respondents showed interactive health literacy and 438 in 440 (99.5 %) expressed functional health literacy.  None of the participants had critical health literacy.  Results indicated that factors significantly associated with health literacy included education ( P -value=0.001), occupational history ( P -value=0.020), visibility ( P -value=0.003), and reading ability ( P -value=0.049). Conclusion : The status of health literacy, especially functional level were considered as having the limited literacy, among Thai older persons represents an important challenge for Thai health policies and health practitioners across Thailand.  Knowledge of health literacy is needed to provide the foundation for developing strategies to mitigate effects of low health literacy on health outcome.  The social gradient could be taken into account when developing public health strategies to improve health equity.

Wansiri Nilnate

Papers

Level of Health Literacy in Thai Elders, Bangkok, Thailand