Background and Objective: Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) play a vital role in Thailand's community health system, particularly in oral health promotion. However, their effectiveness is limited by inadequate nutritional literacy skills. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive nutritional literacy training program for oral health promotion, tailored to VHVs' operational needs and context, focusing on enhancing their capabilities in accessing, understanding, and effectively communicating health information.



Methods: This qualitative study employed the connoisseurship method with maximum variation sampling of 17 experts from public health, nursing, dental public health, education, and information technology fields, representing diverse educational backgrounds and professional roles. Three structured expert seminars were conducted in January 2024, following a systematic format of introduction, focused group discussions, and consensus-building sessions. Data were collected through audio recordings and verbatim transcriptions, analyzed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis approach, with trustworthiness established through investigator triangulation and member checking.



Results: Analysis revealed three key themes: (1) six essential skills comprising information access, comprehension, questioning, decision-making, application, and communication; (2) training manual components including content presentation, benefits, objectives, evaluation methods, and trainer qualifications; and (3) a comprehensive evaluation framework incorporating satisfaction assessment, analytical thinking, creativity, teamwork, and output quality measures. The program design emphasized practical application through hands-on training, participatory learning, and real-world scenarios, with particular focus on up-to-date information sources and critical thinking development.



Conclusion: The study successfully developed a comprehensive nutritional literacy program for VHVs' oral health promotion that aligns with adult learning principles and community contexts. This research provides a foundation for enhancing VHVs' capacity in nutritional literacy for oral health, potentially contributing to improved community health outcomes and reduced health disparities. Future research should evaluate program effectiveness across various community settings.