Developing a Model for Preventing Threats to the Health and Safety of Mushroom Farmers through Community Participation

Abstract

This research and development study aimed to develop a community-based participatory model for preventing health and safety threats among mushroom farmers, and to compare work-related knowledge, perceived self-efficacy in respiratory management, and self-protective behaviors before and after implementing the model. The sample consisted of two groups: 36 mushroom farmers from Ban Dongkhram, That Phanom District, Nakhon Phanom Province, and 25 stakeholders from related networks. Research instruments included qualitative tools for model development and quantitative tools for outcome evaluation. The study was conducted from November 2024 to May 2025. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis, and quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a Paired Samples t-test.

The results revealed that the prevention model comprised eight components: 1) establishment of a health and safety committee, 2) risk identification and collaborative solution design, 3) capacity building through participatory learning, 4) health surveillance mechanism development, 5) occupational health monitoring and reporting, 6) government and network support, 7) community-level policy advocacy, and 8) regular review and improvement of prevention measures. After implementing the model, farmers showed statistically significant increases in mean knowledge scores (7.86 to 13.91; t = 15.85, p<.05), perceived self-efficacy in respiratory management (35.77 to 67.00; t = 74.01, p<.05), and self-protective behaviors (52.52 to 82.97; t = 31.69, p<.05). The community-based participatory approach effectively improved knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-protective behaviors among mushroom farmers.