การพัฒนาศักยภาพชุมชนต้นแบบสู่วิสาหกิจชุมชนด้านการบริบาลผู้สูงอายุ

This research study aimed to explore the adaptation of “Mae Mok Model”, a model community for elderly care, in building potential communities in preparation for an aging society in Thailand. The project includes development of online courses and practice guidelines for elderly care, as well as tools for managing an up-to-date elderly care service network. It also aimed to promote social partnerships of the elderly caregiver network and transform it into a community enterprise for elderly care with competitive advantages through the creation of shared values. In addition, the project aimed to develop knowledge and skills in academics and research for a network of researchers from various agencies participating in this research plan. The results revealed that after participating in a participatory action research (PAR) workshop, the researchers were found with a better understanding of the research plan and details of sub-research projects. The participants included government healthcare official researchers, academic researchers, and local researchers, who, during this process, had an opportunity to exchange knowledge, ideas, and new perspectives for the benefit of the
project. After research planning and researcher development, the next process was developing a course management system for “Hybrid Learning” in elderly care of caregivers. The lessons carried out could be divided into 2 types of class formats; (1) distant-learning – for principle lessons or lectures that require explanations and understanding and (2) faceto- face – for lessons that require learners to gain knowledge and skills necessary in elderly care directly from a teacher in an actual classroom. Learners could register for the program and participate in classes as assigned by the teachers, then learn or revise lesson content
from online teaching materials at any time. They could also meet the teachers online for questions or discussions. Upon the course completion, the learners’ names would then be listed on the administration system of the community enterprise network. They would then be on the caregiver queue list used for arranging elderly care duties. This system could be used for screening their elderly clients before receiving the care service, as well as other administration tasks including appointment notifications via LINE application, job acceptance or rejection, daily performance reports, and income calculation. Evaluation results from computer experts noted that the efficacy of this program was at a high level and it could be used to assign jobs and manage queues for the caregivers quickly and accurately. As for development of a model nursing home community, Creative Share Value (CSV) was used to transform two caregiver residential houses into nursing homes under the standards of the Health Establishment Act B.E. 2559 and one model community enterprise for elderly care was established and registered. It was also found that after passing a 420-hour course on geriatric care, the caregivers had increased and consistent income and decreased debt
burden. They were found to work more as a caregiver than their current occupation and have more time to spend with their family. However, the overall potential of the community enterprise was evaluated to be at a moderate level. The aspects deemed in need of improvement include the community enterprise’s operation planning, marketing management, and knowledge and information management. Furthermore, the online
elderly care course for caregivers was overall evaluated with a very high level of impact on the caregivers’ potential. This is was in line with a very high level of satisfaction towards the program from the caregivers, their supervisors, and clients. When comparing the social impacts of the project with other domestic and international areas, Mae Mok Sub-district was found having certain economic impacts such as higher employment, as well as social impacts such as increased stability, self-esteem, and local job opportunities for the caregivers. There were also some environmental impacts as the elderly care services were provided using natural capital while taking into account the well-being of people in the community. Hence, the social return on investment of the project was found to be a positive at 5.83. When compared to the elderly care service of other countries, however, it was found that other nations’ governments played a key role in providing welfare for the elderly under clear policies, laws, and organizational management framework. Healthcare was found to be integrated operations which included all sectors’ participation and a focus on using the local community as a service base.