Development of a Mental Health Promotion Model for Elderly in Community Settings, Huai Rat district, Buriram province

Abstract

     This action research was aimed to development of a mental health promotion model for elderly in community settings, Huai Rat district, Buriram province. The samples were 3 groups consisted of 1) Network partner of 12 samples, 2) Village Health Volunteers 249 samples and Elderly 249 samples, selected according to predefined criteria. The research was conducted between April 2025 - March 2026. Data were collected from questionnaires, Thai Geriatric Mental Health Assessment Tool (T-GMHA-15), in-depth interview guidelines and focus group guidelines. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and comparing the mean differences using paired t-test and qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis with a significance level at 0.05.

     The results showed that the developed model consisted of 6 key components: 1) Assessment, 2) Elderly Empowerment, 3) Family and Caregiver Development, 4) Community Participation, 5) Mental Health Promotion Activities, and 6) Monitoring, Evaluation, and Continuous improvement. The evaluation results showed after the implementation of the developed model, both knowledge and practices related to mental health promotion for elderly and elderly’ mental health scores were significantly higher than pre-development (p-value< 0.001). Post-intervention mental health assessment indicated that the participants achieved mental health levels comparable to those of the general population, with T-GMHA-15 scores ranging from 43 to 49 points.