Health And Social Problems Of Geriatric Population In An Urban Setting Of Gujarat, India

摘要

Change in socio-economic status and various health problems adversely affect an individual's way of life during old age .The present study attempts to assess the health and social problems of the elderly and their attitude towards life in an urban area of Gujarat. A total of 311 elderly persons (60 years old and above) were interviewed using a pre-tested schedule. Around 66% of the patients belonged to the age group of 60-69 years old. Nearly 13% of the respondents were illiterate. Around 56% felt they were not happy in life. A majority of them had health problems such as hypertension followed by arthritis, diabetes, constipation etc. About 44% of the respondents said that they were not loved by family members. The results of the study showed that there is a need for geriatric counseling centers that can take care of their physical and psychological needs. The study was done by the Department of Community Medicine, Medical College, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. Introduction There is no United Nations standard numerical criterion, but the UN agreed cutoff is 60+ years when referring to the elderly population (1). In India, the elderly account for 7% of the total population. By 2020, 10.4% of population amounting to 142 million people 60 years or older will be living in India (2).The elderly are a precious asset for any country. With rich experience and wisdom, they contribute their might for sustenance and progress of the nation. Their special health and economic issues differ from those of the general population. The United Nations Principles address the independence, participation, care, self-fulfillment and dignity of older persons as an ensured priority (3).With the decline in fertility and mortality rates accompanied by an improvement in child survival and increased life expectancy, a significant feature of demographic change is the progressive increase in the number of elderly persons. Increasing life span and poor health care add to the degree of disability among the elderly and compound the problems of care giving. In India, the life expectancy has steadily gone up from 32 years at the time of independence to over 63 in 2001. The elderly experience changes in different aspects of their lives (4). With rapid increase in elderly population accompanied by a decline in the physiological functions in this age group, the foremost apparent challenge is to prevent physiological ageing getting converted into pathological ageing i.e. when diseases supervene. The psychosocial environment around elderly is also to be kept healthy.The care of the elderly is drawing more and more attention of the Government and public. It is already a major social and health problem in affluent countries. While science has prolonged life, the changes that it has brought about in cultural and social patterns have robbed the elderly of their status and self-esteem and have deprived them of chance to function adequately in the society (5).Majority of the problems that confront older persons are the result of priorities, policies and practices of society. Ageing is mainly associated with social isolation, poverty, apparent reduction in family support, inadequate housing, impairment of cognitive functioning, mental illness, widowhood, loss, bereavement, limited options for living arrangement and dependency towards end of life (6).All these problems have an impact on the quality of life in old age and health care at the time of need. In traditional Indian societies, joint family system used to take care of most of these social issues. However, with industrialization and urbanization, disintegration of traditional joint family has been the major social problem. Nevertheless family and the community are the most important caretaker of elderly in India. It is thus necessary to strengthen the traditional family system through community education and social intervention (7).In the absence of well-organized social support network, the scenario appears gloomy. In not