Empowering the Communities for New Health Promotion of Huai-Hin Subdistrict Administrative Organization, Chaibadan District

Abstract

The research aims to study 1) the community empowerment for the new health promotion and 2) the approaches used by Huai-Hin Subdistrict Administrative Organization, Chai Badan, Lop Buri for the community empowerment, using qualitative research methodology. The samples were thirteen officers working with the organization including the chief executive, chief administrator, the officer of planning and policy analysis, caregivers, the director of the subdistrict health-promoting hospital, and the leader of the village health volunteer. The study employed a documentary analysis, an in-depth interview, and an observation to collect the data.

The results revealed that: 1. the community empowerment for the new health promotion of Huai-Hin Subdistrict Administrative Organization entailed three aspects.      They were: 1) an enhancement of the local organizations’ participation in formulating    the guidelines and the cooperation in implementing the activities related to people’s health-care welfare and medical treatment; 2) the support from the annual budgets       for Public Health Projects from the Royal Initiative that empowered the strength of the local community as they could carry out the activities on their own and 3) the cooperation from the communities’ leaders, village healthcare volunteers, and the government organizations working on the health care welfare to arrange the health care campaigns, healthcare activities, and health maintenance for the local people to empower the changes for the livable and sustainable environment. And 2. for the approaches used to empower the community for the new health promotion of the organization, the results suggested that they were four approaches. They were: 1) causing the people’s needs and desires for a better health care system by encouraging the cooperation of the stakeholders or local leaders to work together in small groups; 2) enhancing people the confidence to speak up on the matter by casually sitting, talking and sharing some thoughts with other members; 3) helping people to discover their inner powers through the reasonable persuasions or through small community forums and 4) studying the existed local wisdom that was still used in nowadays, preserved and applied it to the local’s benefits by combining them with the current medicine to enhance the local health care system.