The Development of Village Health Volunteers for Surveillance, Prevention and Control of Dengue Fever in Muang Ubon Ratchathani District through Multilateral Participatory Techniques

Abstract

This action research aimed to develop and evaluate the capacity building of Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) in dengue fever surveillance, prevention, and control in Mueang Ubon Ratchathani District through multi-stakeholder participatory techniques. The study samples consisted of two groups: 15 participants in the capacity development group (administrators, public health officials, community leaders, VHVs, and community representatives) and 45 VHVs in the evaluation group selected by simple random sampling. Research instruments included context analysis forms, participatory discussion guidelines, assessment forms for knowledge, behavior, and participation (reliability coefficients 0.86, 0.86, and 0.88, respectively), and larval indices assessment forms. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired sample t-tests, and content analysis. The research findings revealed that the capacity development process comprised 7 activities: 1) situation study and problem analysis, 2) needs analysis through stakeholder network brainstorming, 3) establishment of operational networks, 4) participatory implementation by district health system teams, 5) VHV capacity development, 6) community capacity building using Technology of Participation (TOP) techniques, and 7) dengue prevention campaign activities. The District Quality of Life Development Committee served as the central mechanism for coordination and policy implementation. The capacity development results showed that participants had significantly improved mean scores in knowledge, dengue prevention behaviors, and participation compared to pre-development levels (P-value < 0.001). The House Index (HI) was 13.10, and the Container Index (CI) was 4.17, which are within acceptable levels according to World Health Organization criteria.