Abstract
This study consists of five purposes: (1) to survey the states and problems of health publications of Thai publishers, (2) to examine the backgrounds of health information transformers in terms of their status, types of publication work, professional procedures, working process, and related problems, (3) to propose the guidelines for developing and supporting health information transformers, (4) to explore the use of computer and a health publication database as well as to present a health publication database format , and (5) to propose the database format of health information transformers. The results of the study are as follows: 1. Health publishers generally have 11.95 working staff and publish 8.69 titles per year. Publication expenses for one title include 10 percents for the copyright cost of an author and 90 percents for publishing, printing, disseminating and marketing. Most of the health publishers prepare the publication layout and original master at the publishing office but employ outside printing work. The health published contents consist of various issues such as disease knowledge, nutrition, self-health care, exercise and fitness, mental health, elderly health care, beauty care, mothers and children, child rearing, drug usage, herbs, bio-organic consumption, yoga, diet, environment, and sex education. These contents are selected in accordance with the authors’ own interest and current problem issues. The objectives of health publishing are to give readers more understanding of health knowledge that they have already known and to provide them new related information as well. The problems of health publishing are the difficult selection of experienced authors, the high cost of printing, the inaccuracy and unreliability of content, and the limited dissemination of health publications. 2. The health information transformers are averagely 53 years old and are mainly physical doctors. Therefore, writing of health publications is not their main career. Types of their publication work are authors, compilers and editors. By average, they have been working as authors for 10.32 years, with 3.50 books and 7.55 articles since 1997. Reasons for writing of health publications are to pursue their own interest, use their own health knowledge in practical ways, and follow the social needs. The most serious problem of writing is that the health information transformers have no time or have limited time for writing or seeking information. Other problems are limitation of health information resources and lack of accurate, reliable, and up-to-date health information. Another problem is related to readers’ attitudes and beliefs that local folk medicines and treatments are much better than modern ones. Also, they believe that illness and death are the ways of life; therefore they pay no attention of their self-health care. 3. The proposed guidelines for developing and supporting health information transformers are providing of consulting health expert teams who can provide some advices to the authors; establishing reliable health information centers; initiating the association of health information transformers; organizing training programs for writing skills and seminars for health publications authors; arranging health publication contests; disseminating of health publications to remote readers; and promoting of self-health care to the public. In addition, private publishers should fairly return to the authors and provide them more funds to disseminate health publications to community as well as support them about writing and research work. 4. The proposed health publication database format is composed of 13 required fields with indexes for information retrieval, and 6 optional fields without indexes. 5. The proposed health publication author database format is composed of 2 required fields with indexes for information retrieval, 6 required fields without indexes, and 7optional fields.
