Capacity Building of Village Health Workers in Community-Based Disaster Health Management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69855/samec.v3i1.746Keywords:
Village Health Workers, Disaster Preparedness, Disaster Health Management, Simulation, Mentoring, Community EmpowermentAbstract
Village health workers are at the forefront of health services in disaster situations, but most have not received sustainable and structured disaster training. Method: This community service program uses a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach combined with community empowerment, implemented for 3 months (January-March 2026) in Balah Aia Village, Agam Regency, involving 30 village health workers. The intervention consisted of training, local scenario-based simulations, and four weeks of post-training mentoring. The evaluation used a one-group pretest-posttest design measuring knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Results: There was a significant increase in all capacity dimensions (p<0.001), with the largest increase in skills (28.57 points). The distribution of competencies shifted from 40% in the low category to only 3.3% post-intervention, and the number of high category participants increased from 10% to 76.7%. The highest simulation achievements were in emergency response (96.7%) and handling vulnerable groups (93.3%), while the development of contingency plans (80.0%) still requires strengthening. The level of participant satisfaction with the program was very good (90%). Implications: An integrated intervention model combining training, simulation, and ongoing mentoring is recommended as a sustainable approach to developing the capacity of village health workers. Conclusion: This program is effective in comprehensively improving the competence of village health workers and has the potential to be replicated in areas with similar disaster vulnerability characteristics.
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