Abstract
This participatory action research (PAR) aimed to 1) develop a participatory public policy for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Muang District, Trang Province, and 2) monitor and evaluate the implementation of public policy. The target groups for collecting data were divided into 2 groups: qualitative data, consisting of 1) a group of scholars or people working in a government agency, 2) a group of executives of a local government organization, and 3) a group of 94 people or civil society groups, and quantitative data consisting of 384 people in the targeted areas. The research was divided into 3 phases, namely 1) the study of the situation of the problem, 2) the policy development and the policy trial, and 3) the public policy assessment together with the development of public policy driving processes for health. In this phase, there were 5 steps as follows: 1) Formation of policy issues, 2) Public policy formation, 3) Public policy decision making, 4) Implementation of public policy, and 5) Monitoring and public policy evaluation. The research was conducted between April 2021 – May 2022. The research instruments consisted of a group discussion guideline, in-depth interviews, questionnaires, observations, and learning exchange forums (lesson learned). The results showed that the first step was the formation of policy issues caused by the problem of disease outbreaks in the community with preventive actions control of outbreaks under a committee based on the incident command system and the Public Health Emergency Operation Center (PHEOC) together with community participation. The proposal from a group of scholars included an accelerated measure that covers the active case finding, treating infected people, vaccination, campaigning for people to follow universal prevention measures, as well as healing infected people’s minds. The local government organizations support public relations information, equipment, and utilities that were necessary for home and community quarantine. Measures done by the people's groups or civil society, were to create a safe area from COVID-1 9 (COVID Free Setting), focusing on important places, including restaurants, schools, hospitals, factories, hotels, and markets. Once the public policy has been formulated, then policy decisions have been made. The policy has been implemented in the communities. There was the monitoring and evaluation of the policy implementation. It was found that people have followed the measures at a high level (M=2.62, SD=0.28). They were satisfied with the public policy at a high level (M=8.30, SD=1.69), and their participation was at a high level (M=8.45, SD=1.57). The findings suggest that the development of participatory public policy in the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Muang District, Trang Province arose under the participation of government personnel, the private sector, and the people in communities. They have driven the public policy concretely.
