The effectiveness of developing an empowerment program for at-risk populations with diabetes and hypertension in Nuea Khlong Subdistrict, Nuea Khlong District, Krabi Province.

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study, employing a one-group pretest-posttest design, aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an empowerment program for individuals at risk of diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HT). The sample consisted of 67 at-risk individuals in Moo 7, Nuea Khlong Subdistrict, Nuea Khlong District, Krabi Province, selected through simple random sampling. The intervention involved an empowerment program comprising seven activities conducted over 21 weeks. Data were collected before and after the program using a questionnaire assessing four areas: 1) knowledge of DM and HT, 2) self-efficacy in disease prevention and control, 3) preventive and control behaviors, and 4) basic health care behaviors. The questionnaire demonstrated high reliability, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.80, 0.95, 0.90, and 0.95, respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the paired t-test.

The results revealed that after participating in the empowerment program, the mean scores for all variables significantly increased as follows: (1) knowledge of DM and HT increased by 0.88 [95% CI: (0.202, 0.706), p < 0.001]; (2) self-efficacy in disease prevention and control increased by 0.36 [95% CI: (0.420, 0.661), p < 0.001]; (3) disease prevention and control behaviors increased by 0.82 [95% CI: (0.480, 1.099), p < 0.001]; and (4) basic health care behaviors, including dietary and beverage consumption (increased by 0.78, 95% CI: 0.526–0.889, p < 0.001), physical exercise (increased by 1.15, 95% CI: 0.433–0.963, p < 0.001), and emotional regulation (increased by 1.09, 95% CI: 0.536–0.901, p < 0.001).

In conclusion, the empowerment program effectively enhanced knowledge, self-efficacy, and health behaviors among the at-risk group within the community. However, to confirm causal strength and clinical outcomes, future research should utilize more robust designs to ensure that empowerment programs remain contextually appropriate for local health issues.