Design thinking in home-visit education among undergraduate public health students in Thailand
Keywords:
Design thinking, Home-visit learning, Public health education, Professional competency, Classroom action researchAbstract
Background: Community-based home visits are an essential component of public health education, yet traditional approaches may provide limited opportunities for students to develop both technical and transferable skills through authentic community engagement. Integrating design thinking with experiential learning may enhance students’ capacity to apply knowledge, solve problems creatively, and respond to community needs. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a design thinking-integrated home-visit module (DTHV module) within a CAR framework on knowledge, attitudes, and skills (KAS) among undergraduate public health students and explore their reflective learning experiences during community-based practice. Methods: Mixed-methods classroom action research (CAR) was conducted from January to May 2023 at Mahidol University, Amnatcharoen Campus, Thailand, the study involved 53 third-year public health students in a 15-hour intervention integrating design thinking with experiential home-visit learning. Statistical analysis revealed significant improvements across all assessed domains (p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.52–1.06), including home-visit knowledge, self-esteem, creative thinking and problem-solving, collaboration and leadership, and information and digital literacy. Results: Mean scores for home care practice and innovation reached 83.01 (SD = 5.65), with 64.2% of participants achieving a good performance level. After action review, student reflections highlighted enhanced empathy, stronger professional identity, greater self-confidence, and improved integration of theory with real-world practice. Innovations developed during the module also received positive acceptance from community stakeholders. Conclusion: Overall, the DTHV module strengthened both hard skills, including home care knowledge and practice, and soft skills such as empathy, collaboration, and professional identity, offering a promising pedagogical approach for community-based public health education; however, findings should be interpreted cautiously given the one-group pre–post design.
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