Action research to strengthen women weavers' self-care in North-East Thailand.

Objective: The objective of this research was to improve self-care and work safety practices among women weavers in North-East Thailand.

Design And Sample: Action research was used with a sample of 107 weavers and 15 community and local government stakeholders from six rural villages. Formative and summative evaluation was carried out over 10 months following initial implementation of five action plans, and after 5 years.

Strengthening the self-care of women working in the informal sector: local fabric weaving in Khon Kaen, Thailand (Phase I).

The first phase of this study was undertaken using Participatory Action Research (PAR) to identify the factual situations of fabric-weaving women working in the informal sector in Thailand. The aims were to enhance the mutual understanding of the women and researchers concerning the problems faced by these women and to establish an action plan to address these problems. The participant group consisted of 107 women working in the informal sector from three local villages who voluntarily took part in the study.