A Model Development of Health Care for Agricultural Workers in Khonkam Sub-district, Yangchumnoi District, Sisaket Province

Abstract

          This research and development study aimed to study 1) the situation and patterns of health care, 2) the development of health care patterns, and 3) finding results of the development of health care patterns for agricultural workers. The sample was selected using the purposive sampling method, and the sample size was calculated using the sample size calculation formula to estimate the population mean in the case of knowing the population size, which consisted of 1) 165 agricultural workers and 2) 50 agricultural workers' networks; the study was conducted between December 2023 and April 2024. Data were collected using research instruments consisting of questionnaires, group discussion guidelines, and observation guidelines. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired samples t-tests, and qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis.
           The results finding, survey, and risk assessment found that work-related problems were still found, there were still patients with symptoms after using pesticides, and there was no participatory health care pattern for agricultural workers at the local level, which had to be developed according to the changing problems. The developed agricultural labor health care model consists of 4 components: 1) a structure model that is appropriate for the context of the area, 2) a process for assessing occupational risks, 3) a process for both reactive and proactive health care, and 4) participatory monitoring and evaluation. The average health care of agricultural labor before the model development was 6.5 (S.D. = 1.82), and after the model development, it was 8.5 (S.D. = 1.28), which was statistically significant (p-value = 0.001). After the model development, the average health care of agricultural labor was higher than before the model development (mean difference = 2.0). In conclusion, the developed health care model resulted in a participatory health care process in the community to solve the problem of occupational risks of agricultural labor.