Effect of fall prevention program based on health belief model and social support on fall prevention behaviors among the elderly in Kochan District Chonburi Province
Abstract:
This quasi-experimental study aimed to study the effect of fall prevention program based on health belief model and social support on fall prevention behaviors among elderly in Kochan District, Chonburi Province. The study samples were elderly club members, aged 60-70 years. Simple random sampling was used to select elderly club as an experimental group of 30 people (Kochan Subdistrict Municipality elderly club) and a control group of 32 people (Prokfa Subdistrict Municipality elderly club). The experimental group received fall prevention program consisting of activities promoting the perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits and barriers, self-efficacy and social support. Interviewing questionnaire were used to collect data in before the intervention, after the intervention and follow up between July to October 2021. Descriptive statistics and Inferential statistics were analyzed using Paired t-test, Independent t-test. The results showed that, after the intervention, the experimental group had a mean score on the health belief model, social support and fall prevention behaviors significantly higher than before the intervention (p < .05). And, the experimental group had significantly increased mean scores on social support scores and fall prevention behaviors higher than control group (p < .05). The finding of this study could suggest that fall prevention programs based on health belief and social support enhance fall prevention behaviors in elderly. Therefore, this program could be adopted by health personnel to promote the fall prevention in the elderly.