Health and environmental risk communication in Thailand: an analysis of agency staff 's perspectives on risk communication with external stakeholders

"Health and environmental agencies are routinely called upon to provide risk-related information to the public-at-large and to more narrowly defined audiences, such as children, pregnant women, or labourers. While a large body of guidance is available, it is often general and transferability to new contexts is not well understood. In particular, the relevance of this guidance for South-East Asia is not clear. This paper reports the results of a study, using Q method, that aimed to develop a better understanding of officers' and staff's perspectives on health and environmental risk communication within a single regulatory agency in Thailand, the Pollution Control Department. The results demonstrate that there are multiple perspectives, and they are unrelated to roles or experience. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the ways that officers and staff within a national agency with important responsibilities for health and environmental risk communication in Thailand think about these responsibilities and how to achieve them." (author's abstract)"Gesundheits- und Umweltbehörden erfüllen üblicherweise die Rolle der allgemeinen Öffentlichkeit, aber auch speziellen Zielgruppen wie Kindern, Schwangeren oder ArbeiterInnen, risikobasierte Informationen zur Verfügung zu stellen. Trotz vorhandener Beratung ist diese oft sehr allgemein gehalten und eine Übertragbarkeit auf neue Kontexte ist schwierig. Besonders die Relevanz der Beratung in Bezug auf Südostasien ist oft unklar. Dieser Artikel berichtet über die Ergebnisse einer auf der Q-Methode basierenden Studie, die versucht, ein besseres Verständnis über die Perspektiven von Führungskräften und MitarbeiterInnen in Bezug auf Gesundheits- und Umweltrisikokommunikation innerhalb der thailändischen Behörde für Umweltschutz zu gewinnen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass es, unabhängig von den Rollen und Erfahrungen der Befragten, sehr unterschiedliche Perspektiven über Verantwortlichkeiten gibt. Die Studie gibt einen Einblick in diese Perspektiven und die Möglichkeiten der Umsetzung in einer verantwortungsvollen nationalen Behörde im Bereich Gesundheits- und Umweltrisikokommunikation." (Autorenreferat

Fostering a Paradigm Shift in the Roles of Health Promotion Education in Southeast Asia

In the context of an evolving domain and the complexity globalization adds to the situation, health promotion practice in Southeast Asia face challenges posed by the growing gaps between practice needs, human resource development needs, and educational program development needs. One of the challenges is how to foster a much needed paradigm shift among those responsible for workforce production in health promotion. In this paper, we provide practical proposals for action that provide leverage in thinking differently about health promotion practice. These proposals reflect the authors’ perspectives and experiences in competencies relevant to health promotion key action areas: empowerment, health services, partnerships and alliances, environments, and health and policy. We first describe the developments in the health promotion domain; summarize competency frameworks for health promotion; to arrive at a comparison of Southeast Asia education programs for health promotion with programs in socio-economic advanced regions. We suggest proposals on the way forward aimed at fueling the required paradigm shift in capacity building for health promotion in Southeast Asia; and conclude by considering the role national and international alliances can play in implementing these proposals and improving workforce production for health promotion in Southeast Asia. Keywords: Southeast Asia, health promotion, challenge, educatio

PILOT STUDY OF TBL IN GRADUATE PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION A PILOT USE OF TEAM-BASED LEARNING IN GRADUATE PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION

Abstract. This pilot study was undertaken to determine the impact of team-based learning (TBL) on graduate students of public health in a Thai context. The pilot project adopted Michaelsen's approach with the aim of improving learning among Thai graduate students enrolled in public health ethics. This TBL approach attempted to motivate students to do pre-class reading and be active "in-class" learners. Pre-class preparation allowed teachers to address and concentrate on learning gaps, while team work promoted peer interaction and active learning. TBL was found to be useful in fostering student preparedness and to transform "passive" into "active" learning, which especially benefited students "academically at risk" through peer teaching opportunities. With TBL, students valued the relevance of the course content and learning materials. They had positive opinions regarding the effect of TBL on individual and group learning. TBL was perceived to be instrumental in translating conceptual into applicable knowledge, and stimulated individual efforts as well as accountability. This study should be useful to those considering using TBL for public health education

Health and Environmental Risk Communication in Thailand: An Analysis of Agency Staff’ Perspectives on Risk Communication With External Stakeholders

Health and environmental agencies are routinely called upon to provide risk-related information to the public-at-large and to more narrowly defi ned audiences, such as children, pregnant women, or labourers. While a large body of guidance is available, it is often general and transferability to new contexts is not well understood. In particular, the relevance of this guidance for South-East Asia is not clear. This paper reports the results of a study, using Q method, that aimed to develop a better understanding of offi cers’ and staff ’s perspectives on health and environmental risk communication within a single regulatory agency in Thailand, the Pollution Control Department. The results demonstrate that there are multiple perspectives, and they are unrelated to roles or experience. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the ways that offi cers and staff within a national agency with important responsibilities for health and environmental risk communication in Thailand think about these responsibilities and how to achieve them