534 The model of community self-managed for the prototype safety children’s centers development in Aranyaprathet District, Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand

<h3>Background</h3> Road traffic injury was one of the most important health problems in Thailand. Building network involvement for road accident management and safety at the district level. It will be an important factor that will contribute to the success of road accident management. <h3>Objective</h3> This study aimed to strengthen the network for mobilizing safety children’s centers in Aranyaprathet District, Sa Kaeo Province. <h3>Methods</h3> The participatory action research was using in this study which aimed at enhancing the community self-managed for mobilizing safety children’s centers. The researchers made comparisons regarding community participation, and helmet wearing and safe driving behavior. The target group includes community leaders, parents of children, and children. The implementation period took 28 months from June 2021 – September 2023. The implementation has been made by means of capacity building, community forum, community-based activities, information retrieval, and lessons learned. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. <h3>Results</h3> The study revealed that people in the community worked cooperatively among their network and regarded community-based safety as their joint target of development. It was managed and mobilized by the participation of the sub-district health committee. In collaboration with the district road safety steering committee. The interventions in the community included learning and sharing ideas and experiences among community key figures, project planning for safety promotion and helmet wearing, encouragement for Tambon Administration Organization to support many activities. As a result, community self-managed of community key figures, after the interventions was better than before the interventions significantly (p &lt; .001), the community participation represented by parents after the intervention was better than before the interventions significantly (p &lt;.01). Regarding driving behavior of parents, the result before and after the interventions showed a statistically significant difference (p &lt; .001). Regarding helmet wearing behavior of children, the result before and after the interventions showed a statistically significant difference (p &lt; .05). <h3>Conclusion</h3> It is advisable to enhance self-managed community to become an important mechanism for sustainable safety children’s centers development. In addition, public health officials should take a role as facilitators and learn together with the community about the change in helmet wearing behavior.