Wansaroat Theppipit. Effects of an exercise program on health promotion among older Thai Muslim in Muang District, Suratthani province . Master's Degree(Public Health Nursing). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2004.
Effects of an exercise program on health promotion among older Thai Muslim in Muang District, Suratthani province
Abstract:
Although regular exercise creates good health, delays organ distortion, reduces and prevents
any symptoms and diseases, recent research found that many older Thai Muslims lack exercise. Since
older Thai Muslims have a different life style from those in other religions, this quasi-experimental
research was conducted to examine effects of an exercise program, applying a health promotion model
that was specific to them. Sixty volunteer subjects were randomly divided into an experimental and a
comparison group. The experimental group was older Thai Muslims living in the Santisuk community
and a comparison group was those living in Lung Klung community, Muang District, Suratthani
Province during June to September 2003. The experimental group attended a 12 - week exercise
program with Aunty Boonmee’s Stick, while the comparison group received an exercise guidebook.
The religious leader, Imam and his assistants were trained to be the key persons for motivation and
support of the exercise program. Each subject was interviewed for their personal information and other
variables before and after the program. Descriptive data were analyzed using percentage, mean, and
standard deviation.
According to the t-test, the experimental group had better scores on perceived benefits of
exercise, perceived barriers to exercise, perceived self-efficacy for exercise, and exercise behavior than
before the experiment (p<0.001) and than those in the comparison group (p<0.001). In addition, the
experimental group had a high level of satisfaction with exercise program for health after the
experiment.
From the results, it was found that the involvement of religious leaders played an important role
in promoting the exercise program for health promotion, resulting in enhancing satisfaction and regular
exercise behavior among older Thai Muslims. The information gained in this research could be used to
develop a public exercise program in other Muslim communities. Additionally, public health nurse
should encourage the participation of religious leaders in other health interventions