Abstract
The National Health Security Office (NHSO) region 8 in Udonthani Province surveyed health personnel
in six provinces: Loei, Nongbualampoo, Nongkhai, Udonthani, Sakon Nakhon and Nakhon Phanom
for the purpose of evaluating understanding of the benefits, information and people’s satisfaction with the health security system. The results revealed that the majority (76.9%) of pharmacists and dentists
knew about the benefits of the health security system, which was less than that of other health professions.
Most personnel received information about health security via television (68.1%). For radio, the
popularity of songs, news and general events was almost the same proportion (31.5, 30.2 and 26.5%,
respectively). The most popular period was between 6 and 8 a.m. (37.1%); 62.6 percent of health personnel
did not read newspapers. The satisfaction of personnel with health security was 8.15 out of a possible
score of 10 and general personnel had highest satisfaction at 8.5. The least satisfaction was among pharmacists
at 7.37. The study found that the satisfaction of the personnel who were positive related to their
knowledge of health benefits in the health security system and satisfaction with the media provided by
the national health security office. The Internet is also an interesting route as it is easy to use and efficient
in communicating to target populations.
It is suggested that NHSO should perform specific public relations campaigns and work more specifically
with each group of health personnel. Attention should be paid to the low level of information that
personnel had received. Formal letters are still the main route for providing information to health personnel.
Alternative routes of information dissemination should be used, especially newsletters, to create
good attitudes toward the national health security system, taking into consideration aspects such as quantity,
style and content conforming to the taste of the personnel concerned.
