Effects of a Standard 70-Hour Training Program on Village Health Volunteers’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Competencies in Caring for Older Adults

Abstract

This one-group quasi-experimental repeated-measures study compared village health volunteers’ knowledge, attitudes, and self-assessed older adult caregiving competency before training, immediately afterward, and at one-month follow-up. Initially, 40 volunteers from the catchment areas of 10 healthcare facilities in Khon Kaen Province were recruited; 39 completed all assessments. Participants received the Department of Health’s standard 70-hour older adult caregiver training. Instruments included a demographic questionnaire, a 25-item knowledge test, a 15-item attitude scale, and a 25-item self-assessed competency scale. The outcome instruments had item–objective congruence indices of 0.76, 0.98, and 1.00 and test–retest reliability coefficients of 0.79, 0.81, and 0.85, respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, repeated-measures ANOVA, and pairwise comparisons, with significance set at .05. Mean knowledge scores increased from 15.51 (SD = 3.33) to 17.97 (SD = 2.00) and 20.48 (SD = 1.76), respectively. Corresponding mean differences from baseline were 2.46 (95% CI: 1.77–3.15) and 4.97 (95% CI: 4.12–5.82). Mean attitude scores increased from 64.05 (SD = 5.20) to 67.92 (SD = 3.74) and 71.69 (SD = 2.38), with mean differences of 3.87 (95% CI: 2.87–4.86) and 7.64 (95% CI: 6.37–8.91). Mean competency scores increased from 102.05 (SD = 12.63) to 109.46 (SD = 10.39) and 117.35 (SD = 6.37), with mean differences of 7.41 (95% CI: 5.24–9.57) and 15.30 (95% CI: 12.48–18.13). All outcomes differed significantly across time, and all pairwise comparisons were significant (p < .001). Participants demonstrated higher scores following training. Further studies incorporating a comparison group, direct performance assessment, and longer follow-up are needed to confirm program effects.