The Potential Development Process of District Health Network for Elderly Care System, Takheun Subdistrict, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province

Abstract

This action research aimed to examine the capacity development process of district health system (DHS) and long-term care (LTC) system for the elderly at Thakheun subdistrict, Thasala district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province. The capacity development process is in two-fold: 1) DHS network partner was carried out in 10 community leaders. They have attended the District Health Management Learning course. The working potential is administered before and after taking the course.  2) The development of long-term care for elderly process is carried out with 45 trained networked participants. They have redesigned LTC system for elderly and implemented in 1,984 elderly between June 2014 and May 2015. The process includes preparation, planning, operation, and evaluation phases. The content analysis, thematic conclusion, and descriptive analysis are used for data analysis. The results are as the following: 1) the capacity development process of DHS network revealed i) established DHS-Cup Board; ii) transferring the core knowledge of the network partners; and iii) communication within the network, which helps improve the performance when compared to the pre-operation. 2) The development of LTC for elderly process comprised modification of positive perspective towards networking, clear role assignment for local networking members, and adjustment of plans to cover all dimensions required by the elderly. The evaluation phase showed that the provided care for elderly by DHS network has met LTC criteria. The impacts of current study include 1) effective network partner and (?) district health network formulation, 2) interpersonal and organizational communication facilitating action, and 3) community awareness in caring for the elderly and well-being.