Potential of Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) in Preventing COVID-19 in Rural Thailand

Abstract

Public health officers are vital workers for patient care in health facilities amid Thailand’s COVID-19 outbreak. In addition to these workers, village health volunteers (VHVs) also maintain significant roles for such care in rural areas. These volunteers are community members working on health promotion, health surveillance, and disease prevention. This survey research aimed to investigate the potential of village health volunteers in preventing COVID-19 and compare their potential by obtained development, occupations, educational levels, ages, and experiences as VHVs. The samples were 2,184 VHVs in four regions of Thailand selected through multistage sampling. Data were analyzed by percentage, mean, standard ANOVA, and LSD multiple comparison test. Results revealed that 99.0% of the VHVs had high potential in preventing COVID-19 in communities, with the mean of potential on operations ranked the highest,followed by screening for key COVID-19 symptoms in communities. The comparison of potential in COVID-19 prevention revealed that VHVs exposed to different numbers of development sessions had different potential levels. More specifically, VHVs participating in more than five development sessions per year demonstrated higher potential than those participating in zero development sessions, 1-2 sessions per year, and 3-5 sessions per year. However, there was no difference in potential among the groups of VHVs participating in zero development sessions, 1-2 sessions per year, and 3-5 sessions per year. Furthermore, no difference in potential was identified among VHVs classified by occupations, educational levels, ages, and experiences as VHVs.