Results of development of community infectious disease surveillance network of Khamin Subdistrict, Mueang District, Kalasin Province

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study employed a one-group pretest-posttest design. The objectives were to compare knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, disease control efficiency, and emergency response capability before and after the development of a community communicable disease surveillance network; and to assess participants' satisfaction after the network development in Khamin Subdistrict, Mueang Kalasin District, Kalasin Province. The study was conducted from June to December 2024 (7 months). The sample consisted of 47 members of the community communicable disease surveillance network, including village health volunteers (VHVs), public health officers from Subdistrict Health Promoting Hospitals (SHPHs), disease control officers from Local Administrative Organizations (LAOs), and community leaders. The research instruments comprised a 5-stage community communicable disease surveillance network development program, a demographic interview form, and assessment forms for knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, disease control efficiency and emergency response capability, and satisfaction. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and pre-post comparisons were performed using the paired t-test.

          The results showed that most participants were female (61.70%), with a mean age of 49.00±[SD] years; 53.19% were village health volunteers, with a mean of 7.40±[SD] years of experience in communicable disease surveillance. After the network development, the mean knowledge score regarding the communicable disease surveillance system increased from 10.19±2.73 (moderate level) to 13.72±1.45 (good level); attitudes toward network collaboration increased from 34.61±5.24 to 43.69±3.78; surveillance practice behaviors increased from 32.38±6.47 to 42.77±4.29; disease control efficiency increased from 25.95±4.83 to 34.02±3.47; and emergency response capability increased from 21.35±4.72 to 29.36±3.28. All domains improved from a moderate to a good level, and all increases were statistically significant (t = 8.74, 11.26, 9.95, 10.38, and 9.72, respectively; p<0.001). Participants' satisfaction with the network development was high (43.22±4.57 out of 50, or 86.44%), with the highest satisfaction reported for the benefits received. These findings suggest that developing a community communicable disease surveillance network based on Social Network Theory and community participation, integrating knowledge and skill development, positive attitudes toward network collaboration, communication and reporting system development, emergency simulation exercises, and continuous follow-up, can strengthen the capacity of network partners to monitor, prevent, and control communicable diseases in the community, and can serve as a model for other primary care units with similar contexts.