Development of Prevention Model for Dementia in Elderly by Participation of Family Health Volunteers in Nam Yuen District, Ubon Ratchathani Province

Abstract

The purposes of this research were: 1) To study the health problems of the elderly; 2) To study the process of the development of dementia prevention model for the elderly by the participation of family public health volunteers; 3) To compare knowledge, attitudes and behaviors in preventing dementia of the elderly. Action research methodology was used in this research including 4 steps as the followings: (1) Planning; (2) Action; (3) Observation; and (4) Reflection. The sampling groups used in this study were the elderly at 60 years of age and above within social groups under the elderly club, Chum Kam Kha Health Center, Si Wichian sub-district, Nam Yuen district, Ubon Ratchathani province. The 40 samples were selected through purposive random. Other 15 related persons in this research included family public health volunteers, representatives of the elderly club, community leaders, local leaders and public health officers. Data were collected through questionnaires including general information, knowledge, attitude and behavior. Data were analyzed by using statistics, qualitative data, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics Paired t-Test. The study found that the development of dementia prevention model by using Lam Long (northeastern-style folk songs) with abbreviations of words for dementia  prevention for the elderly had helped the experimental group have higher average of knowledge, attitude and behavior in preventing dementia than pre experiment with statistical significance at the level of 0.05 (P-value <0.05) This research suggested that the model be applied for dementia prevention in the elderly by the participation of family public health volunteers to adapt and operate according to the context of each area or to develop the model with other target groups.