Community Integration and Quality of Life: Stroke Survivors as Recipients of Rehabilitation by Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) in Thailand

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of rehabilitation services provided by trained Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) on community integration and quality of life (QOL) for stroke patients in Thailand. Community integration and QOL were measured before receiving rehabilitation and at three months post-intervention. Twenty-five stroke subjects from four rehabilitation centers were recruited by purposive sampling. The statistics used were descriptive and paired t-test. The community integration scores increased significantly (p < .05) from pre-test (mean = 9.80 ± 3.96) to post-test (mean = 11.44 ± 4.68). The QOL scores also significantly (p < .05) increased from pre-test (mean = 71.44 ± 8.38) to post-test (mean = 84.88 ± 12.07). Results demonstrate that rehabilitation services provided by trained VHVs can promote community integration and QOL for stroke survivors.

Keywords:

• Caregivers
• community participation
• stroke
• Village Health Volunteers

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the committee members of the academic community service project, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Thailand, for their support and grants that made this project possible.