A Comparative Study on the Quality of life and Well-being of the Poor Families in Semi-Urban Area and Remote Area

Abstract

This study compared the study results on the quality of life and well-being assessment of the poorfamilies located in a semi-urban area and a remote area in charges of the local administrative organizations byusing the Khon Kaen University Quality of Life and Well-being (KKU QoL Well) indicator assessment whichhad been developed by the researchers. The poor families were recruited according to the criteria and thecommunity meetings. The study compared results obtained from 524 families in two areas within the Isanregion of Thailand, including 244 families in Yangkham sub-district, Phonsai district, Roiet Province and 280families in Muang Wan sub-district, Nam Pong district, Khon Kaen Province. The recruited area criterias werebased on its geographical areas as a remote area for Yangkham sub-district, and a semi-urban area for Muangwansub-district. Prior to its use, the assessment tool was reviewed for content validity and appropriate language by48 local experts. A reliability score of 0.96 was determined by Cronbachûs Alpha Coefficient method. Thestudy revealed that there is no significant different by Chi-Square tests between the frequency scores in thequality of life and well-being levels of the poor families in both areas. However, significant differences byChi-Square tests were found differences of frequency scores in quality of life and well-being levels betweengeneral families and poor families in the semi-urban and remote areas (p< 0.05). It suggests that the KhonKaen University Quality of life and Well-Being (KKU QoL Well) Indicator Assessment can be used todifferentiate family quality of life and well-being both in terms of individual factors and the general overviews.