Effectiveness of a Self-Care Empowerment Model for Preventing Community-Acquired Sepsis Among The Elderly Through Network Participation: A Case Study of Wat Pa Non Niwet Urban Community Health Center

Abstract

The action research, conducted from May 2024 to May 2025, evaluated the effectiveness of a self-care promotion model for preventing community-acquired sepsis among older adults through network partnership engagement. The study comprised three phases 1: Situational analysis through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with 22 key informants. Phase 2 : Model development via participatory meetings with 16 network partners, integrating findings with a training program for village health volunteers on community surveillance and sepsis prevention. Phase 3 : Effectiveness evaluation among 42 elderly participants. The knowledge assessment tool                    demonstrated acceptable validity (IOC 0.67-1.00) and reliability (KR-20 = 0.78). A total of 42 participants met the inclusion criteria. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and McNemar’s test at a significance level of 0.05. Reports of community-acquired sepsis were monitored for six months before and after the intervention and analyzed by frequency and percentage.

          Results: Phase 1 : revealed that older adults had limited knowledge and awareness of early symptoms and  sepsis prevention. Phase 2 : comprised three components: (1) participatory training with patient storytelling, simplified health education, and peer learning from healthy elders; (2) home visits by health personnel and village health volunteers (VHVs) to assess symptoms and self-care practices; and (3) follow-up monitoring by VHVs via telephone during months 2-3. Phase 3 : demonstrated significant improvement in participants’ knowledge and self-care practices (p < 0.001). Community surveillance by VHVs enabled early recognition of suspected symptoms and timely access to health services, while network collaboration strengthened prevention activities. During the six-month follow-up, no new cases of community-acquired sepsis were reported, and the mortality rate from severe community-acquired sepsis declined from 50.00% to 0.00%.         

          Conclusion: The self-care empowerment model through network participation enhanced knowledge and prevention of sepsis among older adults