The Effects of a Community Empowerment Program on Behavioral Modification among Buddhist Monks’ Healthcare Leaders and Buddhist Monks to Prevent Non-Communicable Disease

Abstract

Thai Buddhist monks are at risk of health problems due to inappropriate exercise and dietary choices, leading to chronic non-communicable diseases. This Quasi-experimental study with repeated measurements on the same group aimed to compare the behavior of Buddhist monks' healthcare leaders in selecting food offerings for Buddhist monks to prevent chronic non-communicable diseases and to compare the behavior of the monks themselves in preventing such diseases. The repeated measurements were taken before, immediately after, and three months after the program. The study included 32 volunteer healthcare leaders and 30 Buddhist monks who met the inclusion criteria. The research employed the Community Empowerment program and used the "Bat Thai Klai Rok for Laymen (Healthy Monks Healthy Bowl for Layman)" assessment tool (Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.85), as well as the "Pinit Phochana Pana Ka and activity (Food, Drink, Waist and Walk for Buddhist monk)" assessment tool for Buddhist monk behavior (Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.83). Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and repeated measures. The results showed that the average scores of the healthcare leaders' behavior in food selection to prevent chronic diseases among monks were increased immediately and three months after the project (p = .002). Similarly, the average scores of the monks' own behavior significantly were increased both immediately and three months after the project (p = .014). Thus, the community empowerment program effectively influenced the food choices of the healthcare leaders and changed the monks' food selection behavior while promoting increased physical activity among the Buddhist monks.