The Development to decrease salty consumption by community participation Case study: Ban Ruamjai, Pathum Subdistrict, Muang District, Ubon Ratchathani

Abstract

Excessive salt consumption beyond the level recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) can lead to hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular diseases, and chronic kidney failure. It negatively impacts patients' quality of life, their families, and the economy. To create sustainability, proactive community-based measures emphasizing community participation should be implemented. These initiatives should promote reduced salt consumption by leveraging local resources and integrating with healthcare services. A self-management model can be developed using participatory action research (PAR), which includes three phases composed of 1) Preparation and Situational Analysis Phase: Identifying community readiness and analyzing the context. 2) Development Phase for a Community-Based Salt Reduction Model: This involves three cycles: creating social measures, enhancing knowledge for practical implementation, and announcing pilot villages for salt and disease reduction. 3) Evaluation Phase: Assessing the effectiveness of the community-based salt reduction model.

The results were found in the Ruam-Jai (Join together) model to reduce salt with community participation consisting of 5 components: 1) Public communication through loudspeakers, Line groups, Facebook, and village health volunteers (VHVs). 2) Cooperation with local vendors to measure sodium levels in food. 3) Training to provide knowledge in the community, both VHVs and students. 4) Organizing a festival to announce the 3 Good villages to reduce saltiness model, a contest for delicious Isan food with low salt, individuals and families with low salt model, and 5) monitoring and evaluation of salt consumption behavior. The model evaluation found statistically significant improvements in salt consumption behavior (p=0.000) and knowledge among at-risk groups (p=0.000) after implementing the community-based model. Therefore, the five measures implemented by the Pathum Health Promotion Hospital, Mueang District, Ubon Ratchathani Province, successfully improved proper salt consumption behaviors and community knowledge. This approach should be further promoted and integrated to create a supportive environment for better health and reduce the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases in the community.