Effectiveness of an Emergency Illness Prevention Program among Older Adult Caregivers in Northern Thailand

This quasi-experimental study evaluated the effectiveness of an emergency illness prevention program among caregivers of older adults in Northern Thailand. The sample consisted of 120 primary caregivers of older adults living in Northern Thailand were recruited through purposive sampling and divided equally into an experimental group and a control group, with 60 people per group, based on the inclusion criteria. The experimental group received a participatory emergency illness prevention program that was conducted for 10-weeks intervention. Data were collected by using validated questionnaires administered pre- and post-intervention. The instruments showed good reliability: KR-20 = 0.81 for knowledge, Cronbach’s α = 0.87 for self-efficacy, and 0.89 for outcome expectations. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, paired t–test, and independent t–test statistics. The results showed that, post-intervention, the experimental group demonstrated significant improvements in the average scores of knowledge (P<0.001), self-efficacy (P<0.001), and outcome expectations (P<0.001), compared to the control group, which showed no significant changes. Moreover, the pre–post comparison within the experimental group revealed significant improvements across all three outcomes (P<0.001). The participatory emergency illness prevention program effectively improved caregivers’ capacity to manage emergency conditions in older adults. Integrating the program developed in this study into community health frameworks may enhance elderly care and reduce adverse outcomes.