THE STUDY OF HEALTH SERVICE NEEDS OF THE ELDERLY IN SAMUT SONGKHRAM PROVINCE.

Abstract

The objective of this research was to study the health service needs of the elderly in Samut Songkhram Province. The population was the elders, both men and women, aged 60 years and over, in Bang Nang Li Sub-district, Amphawa District, Samut Songkhram Province. The samples of the study were 98 people selected by accidental sampling technique. The research instrument was the questionnaire. The statistics used for data analysis were percentage, mean, and standard deviation.
Results showed as follows: the elderly were 60 females and 38 males; mainly age between 60-69 years old (44 people), followed by age between 70-79 years old (30 people), and age 80 or over (24 people), respectively; and 47 people were married, 16 people were single, 34 people were widowed, and 1 person was separated. In addition, the research also found as follows: the major needs of the elderly were disseminating health news media through community radio stations; the shuttle service from home to the hospital when emergency take place; village health volunteers could coordinate care for the elder on basic needs, including food, clothing and shelter; death support services; and the community should provide a system to coordinate care for the elderly with chronic illnesses and receive constant care without having to travel to the hospital, such as blood collection, blood pressure measurement, receiving conventional medication, with an average of 4.14, 3.86, 3.78, 3.77 and 3.76 respectively. Suggestion from this study would be the community is a social unit that be expected to provide assistance or support to families in the long-term care of the elderly. Therefore, strengthening the community is an important goal.