The Association between Health Behavior and Health Promotion Needs of Village Health Volunteers in Thailand

Abstract

Background: Village health volunteers (VHV) are health community leaders responsible for improving the health and quality of life of the people of a community.For example, screening for COVID-19 in the community. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional survey research aimed to study the association between health behavior and health promotion needs of VHV in Ongkharak District, Nakhon Nayok Province, Thailand. The subjects consisted of 270 VHV in Ongkharak District. The research instrument was a questionnaire with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient at 0.81. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. Results: The health behaviors of VHV (M = 1.9 SD = 0.3) were at a moderate level. The health promotion needs (M = 2.9 SD = 0.3) were at high level. Health behavior was positively related to the health promotion needs of the VHV significantly (r = 0.0318, p – value = 0.000). Conclusion: The findings of this study may be used to provide insights to agencies involved in health promotion in order to determine how to best assist VHV in receiving health promotion and suitable services that conform to their requirements. © 2022 Taejarernwiriyakul et al.