Competencies in Community Medical Sciences of Village Health Volunteers

Competency of Community Medical Sciences

Abstract

         The Sukhothai Provincial Public Health Office has been continuously developing community medical sciences (CMS) capacity for village health volunteers (VHVs) since 2015, according to the guidelines of the Department of Medical Sciences under the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH). VHVs promote, support, empower, and enhance the public sector's leadership in the body of CMS knowledge and technology for consumer protection and community health management. In addition, VHVs provide preliminary medical diagnoses and primary health care. This descriptive research aimed to study the competencies in CMS among VHVs in Sukhothai. The study sample involved 64 health-care providers (HCPs) and 64 VHVs in the province. Data were collected using a questionnaire and then analyzed to determine the frequency distribution, percentage, mean, standard deviation, paired sample’s t-test, and independent sample’s t-test. The results revealed that VHVs had the highest level of expected CMS competencies as well as the high level of actual CMS competencies. VHVs had higher expected CMS competencies than their actual CMS competencies. As per both groups comparison, VHVs expected and actual CMS competencies were higher than HCPs. Therefore, relevant agencies should further develop or train VHVs to enhance their CMS competencies so as to perform CMS tasks more efficiently and effectively.