Participation of village health volunteers in mental health care for the elderly during the Coronavirus pandemic
Keywords:
Participation, Village Health Volunteer, Mental health of the elderly, Coronavirus diseaseAbstract
This survey research aimed to assess the level of participation of village health volunteers in the planning, operation, resource management, and evaluation of mental health care of the elderly in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic, and to assess support for the participation of village health volunteers in the mental health care of the elderly during the Coronavirus pandemic. The sample was 389 village health volunteers whose names were in the Village Health Volunteer register in Nakhon Pathom Province. Data were collected by questionnaire between October and December 2021. The questionnaire measured participation of village health volunteers in the mental health care of the elderly during the Coronavirus pandemic. The questionnaire had a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.82. Data were analyzed by percentages, means (and standard deviations (SD).
The results showed, first, that village health volunteers were involved in the mental health care of the elderly during the Coronavirus pandemic at a high level in all aspects studied: resource management (= 4.20, SD = 0.59), operations (= 4.06, SD = 0.63), evaluation (= 3.95, SD = 0.62), and planning (= 3.87, SD = 0.67). Second, support for participation of village health volunteers in the mental health care of the elderly during the Coronavirus pandemic was also at a high level in all aspects studied: evaluation (= 3.97 SD = 0.73), resource management (= 3.94, SD = 0.66), operations (= 3.90, SD = 0.65), and planning (= 3.88, SD = 0.68). The findings suggest that health organizations can successfully use village health volunteers to provide mental health care of the elderly, thus promoting good mental health and high quality of life, even during the Coronavirus pandemic.
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