Guidelines for decentralizing power to village health volunteers to carry out public health work in Khon Kaen Province

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) study the level of decentralization of village health volunteers to carry out public health work, 2) study the factors affecting the decentralization of village health volunteers to carry out public health work, and 3) study the approach to decentralization of village health volunteers to carry out public health work in Khon Kaen Province. This study was mixed-method research. The sample consisted of 400 people in Khon Kaen Province. The key informants were 10 government officials and local government officials. The research instruments were questionnaires and interview forms. The statistics used for data analysis were frequency, percentage, multiple regression analysis, and descriptive analysis. The results of the research found that 1) The level of decentralization of village health volunteers to carry out public health work in Khon Kaen Province was at a moderate level overall. The ranking of the following aspects was as follows: health service work, administrative work, and academic work, respectively. 2) The factors affecting the decentralization of village health volunteers to carry out public health work in Khon Kaen Province were knowledge and understanding, and teamwork. and in terms of operational facilities, respectively. 3) The decentralization approach found that; (1) it is necessary to decentralize power to village health volunteers, (2) create strategies and implement health promotion operations into practice, (3) examine every step of the process, (4) apply strategies and plan work for implementation, (5) determine the main policies of related agencies and in line with government policy, (6) promote a vision that is consistent with the policy, (7) systematically implement and evaluate work results and summarize the joint evaluation results, (8) evaluate operations at every step regarding capital or budget allocation, and (9) seriously decentralize power to village health volunteers.