Application

Uthaiwan Kanchanakamol

Director, The Study and Development Center for Dental Public Health
Chiang Mai University
Increasing Community Capacity and Empowering Community Members to Improve the Health and Well-being of Chiang Mai Hill Tribes and Low-income Groups in Three Thai Districts
Thailand

Uthaiwan Kanchanakamol (Thailand) is Director of the Study and Development Center for Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai Thailand. His research interests are in Health Promotion, Oral Health Promotion, Community Dentistry, Health Decentralization, Dental Public Health, Civil Society and Community Participation.

Dr. Kanchanakamol has served as Chairman of the Community Dentistry Department and Associate Dean of both the Faculty of Dentistry and the Graduate School, Chiang Mai University. He has served three consecutive terms as an elected academic representative to the Chiang Mai University Council and was one of the founders of the Thai Dental Council, the Diploma in Dental Public Health Program and the Thai Master of Public Health Program, Chiang Mai University.

Dr. Kanchanakamol also served as the local coordinator in the International Oral Health collaborating program and the International Dental Public Health Program between the Sparkman Center for International Public Health Education (SCIPHE), USA, the Intercountry Center for Oral Health, Thai Ministry of Public Health, Chiang Mai University, and the World Health Organization.

Dr. Kanchanakamol has also been active in numerous NGO's. He was chairman of the Campaign Committee for Local Autonomy, Social Research Institute, Chiang Mai University, Director of the Coordinating Committee for the Northern Community Based Organizations, and Director of the Chiang Mai Community Radio Pilot Project. He has also served as Chairman of the Coordinating Committee for Conserving the Ping River and Environment.

Selected Publications:

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· Kanchanakamol, U. (1999) Resolving environmental conflicts: cultivating civic values by using sustainable garbage management. Presented at the SPIDR's 27th Annual International Conference "Before the Millenium: learning from the past and looking to the future". Organized by the Society of Professionals in dispute resolution (SPIDR), held at Baltimore, Maryland, USA September 22-25.
· Kanchanakamol, U. (1998) Learning Social Advocacy Though Participatory Action Study in Oral Health Promotion. Paper presentation at the Third Congress of Asian Academy of Preventive Dentistry Chiang Rai, Thailand: November 2-4.
· Kanchanakamol, U., et al. (1996) Prevalence of Developmental Enamel Defects and Dental Caries in Rural Preschool Thai Children. J. Community Dental Health; 13:204-207.
· Kantamaturapot, K., Kanchanakamol, U. (1992) The Effectiveness of Oral Hygiene Program in Primary Schoolchildren Under Supervision of Teachers and Schoolchild and Health Volunteers. J. Dent Assoc. Thai, 42:5-6 269-278.

Increasing Community Capacity and Empowering Community members to Improve the Health and Well-Being of Chiang Mai Hill-Tribes and Low-income Groups in Three Thai Districts

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The Chiang Mai area has been selected since June 2001 for a pilot project in which health-care will be decentralized to local governments and community groups. Local area health-care will be planned and programs implemented under the authority of provincial health boards consisting of representatives from local government, the communities themselves and the Ministry of Health. There is an urgent need to prepare the communities and their representatives to effectively participate in this new system.

The proposed research will be participatory action in nature, aiming:

· to determine how to improve implementation and effectiveness in promoting the integral development of youth, seniors and women in Hilltribes and low income communities while increasing community cohesion and collaboration through cultural, political, social and artistic activities;
· to determine how to improve implementation and effectiveness in promoting development of skills among sub-district administration/organization and municipality personnel in the area of community development;
· to determine how to improve implementation and effectiveness in promoting creation of community partnerships by local actors for health promotion.

This involves providing incentives, skills and strategies to community members to enable their effective participation in designing and implementing new autonomous health care and social service systems that meet local needs. This is especially crucial for disadvantaged groups like the Chiang Mai Hill-Tribes and other low-income communities.

Specifically, it is proposed that proven, effective participatory action techniques are utilized to educate, empowers, and involves members of these communities. These include training in the use of focus groups, Delphi methods, consensus development through negotiation/compromise techniques, participatory planning, needs assessment methods (with emphasis on "asset-based" methods developed by McKnight and Kretzman) and basic program evaluation techniques. In addition, community organizations such as area hospitals, NGOs, local governmental groups will be enlisted as collaborators in this learning process. Their involvement will have the additional advantages of identifying issues early-on for discussion and resolution, enabling coalition-building and increasing trust between the three partner groups.

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