Development of Health Literacy Organizations Focusing on Diabetes in Community Hospital Phichit Province

Abstract

Health literacy organization is a process of developing health literacy within the smaller health service units, connecting them to create an overall picture of the organization. The action research aimed to develop a health literacy organization within the community hospital of Phichit Province, utilizing the framework proposed by Stringer. The participants included 11 administrators, 16 members of the health service prototype development committee, 24 representatives from sub-service units, and 86 staff members. The data were collected using: 1) the questionnaire assessing the organization’s health literacy status, 2) a semi-structured in-depth interview guide, and 3) an assessment tool for health literacy in disease prevention for staff. Quantitative data analysis will be conducted using frequency and percentage calculations, while qualitative data will be analyzed through content analysis.

 According to research findings, there are five steps involved in developing a Health Literacy Organization that focuses on diabetes prevention: 1) Policy declaration, establishment of a committee, and designation of issues and responsible parties; 2) Development of personnel; 3) Planning of work, projects, and activities; 4) Implementation of service system development, media, and innovations; and 5) Reinforcement of personnel. After the development of the organization, it was found that the status of the Health Literacy Organization focusing on diabetes prevention in the community hospital in Phicit Province was at a development level of 95.34%. At a rate of 48.5%, personnel had the necessary skills to prevent diseases. The creation process resulted in the creation of 12 prototype health service products.