Factors Associated with Digital Skills of Personnel in the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Public Health
Keywords:
Digital skills, digital program usage, healthcare personnel, the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative MedicineAbstract
This cross-sectional descriptive research aimed to assess the digital skills level of personnel, and to examine the relationships between personal factors, computer program usage, and digital skills among personnel of the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine. The sample consisted of 288 personnel who had been employed for at least six months and were not in administrative positions. Data were collected between July and August 2023, using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire showed excellent validity (IOC = 1.0) and reliability (α = 0.955, 0.935). Data were analyzed for descriptive statistics and inferential methods, including Spearman’s rank and point-biserial correlation coefficients.
The results indicated that personnel had a high level of digital skills (Mean = 4.02 ± 0.59). Factors significantly associated with digital skills included age (r = -0.25, p-value <0.001), educational level (r = 0.12, p-value < 0.039), number of personal digital devices (r = 0.27, p-value < 0.001), and digital technology training (r = 0.16, p-value < 0.008). Additionally, the frequency of using MS Word (r = 0.116, p = 0.049), MS PowerPoint (r = 0.221, p < 0.001), email (r = 0.187, p = 0.001), Google for information searching (r = 0.231, p = 0.001), the HDC program (r = 0.209, p < 0.001), and online meeting platforms (r = 0.151, p = 0.010), were significantly correlated with the digital skills.. The findings suggest that administrators should enhance personnel’s digital skills by providing comprehensive digital training.
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