Thai Health Promotion Foundation in collaboration with the Faculty of Social Administration, Thammasat University and the network of social workers competency development project have developed a COVID-19 screening assessment to support communities and migrant workers.
Mrs Rapeepan Kumhom, Dean of the Faculty of Social Administration, Thammasat University, the project leader said, “The project started since the first wave of COVID-19. It has strengthened the community to prepare for the new wave of the pandemic and social workers were trained to use the assessment form for screening to support patients and their families.”
“This has allowed an efficient and proactive approach to patients with depression and the risk of suicide. Social workers may further use such tools during crises or emergencies. It is in the progress of coordinating with associated organizations and this tool will be deployed digitally in the future.”
This tool has been adopted in accordance with the international accounting concept for The World Health Organization (WHO) ’s International Classification of Function, Health and Disability (ICF). 14 questions covering the aspect of family, health, social and economy have been examined by specialists for improvement and trial with Thammasat University Field Hospital.
It has been consequently used by over 300 volunteer social workers to assess more than 1,400 COVID-19 patients which can take the self-assessment regarding social problems by completing the information through Google Forms via mobile phone which takes only 5 minutes. After that, the method will be adopted by another 40 hospitals. Currently, it is still under evaluation.
The tool will be deployed for patients with serious and emerging infectious diseases and will be standardized. The use of assessment tools with local COVID-19 patients will allow the operations more reliable, referrable and it also helps to design a simple and effective treatment program with quick planning.
Thai Health Promotion Foundation is another network of partners in the project to develop the competency of social workers that takes part as a consultant, a coordinator with hospitals to support migrant workers to receive healthcare by granting them access through mobile phone and Facebook, contacting interpreters speaking cross-border languages including Burmese, Lao and Khmer to provide suggestions and collaborate with public and private agencies.
From the first wave of COVID-19 until the present, more than 30,000 people from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand have been supported with money and donated relief supplies of more than 14 million baht.