Effects of the application of health belief model and community participation on pesticide poisoning prevention behaviors among gardeners, Ongkarak district, Nakhonnayok province, Thailand.
Abstract:
The objective of this study was to examine effects of the application of a Health Belief
Model and community participation on pesticide poisoning prevention behavior among gardeners.
Samples were 65 gardeners in Ongkarak district, Nakhonnayok province, Thailand. Thirty gardeners
participated in the experiment group, while the other 35 gardeners were in the comparison group.
The experiment group joined 2 weekly sessions, including a lecture based on the Health Belief
Model. They also participated in the problem identification, problem solving, role identification, and
evaluation processes. Data were collected by using questionnaires before the intervention, at the 4th
week and at the 10th week after the intervention. Data analysis was performed by using percentage,
mean, standard deviation, Chi-square, Independent t-test, Repeated Measure Analysis of Variance
and Mc Nemars test. Significant level was set at 0.05.
Results reveal that that after the experimentation, the experimental group had mean
scores regarding perceived susceptibility of getting poisoned from pesticide and perceived
benefits of performing prevention behaviors significantly higher than that before the program.
During the follow-up period, the experimental group had higher means scores of all variable
significantly higher than that before the intervention. The experimental group also had mean
scores of all health perceptions except perceived severity of getting pesticide poisoning
significantly higher than that of the comparison group.
Findings from this study suggested that the application of the Health Belief Model and
community participation could encourage gardeners to develop more appropriate prevention
behaviors.