English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Due to various factors, elderly population is growing rapidly worldwide and also in India. Changing socio-economic patterns, such as women becoming economically active and participating in the workforce, and increasing mobility are all leading to more nuclear households, altering social norms of elder care in the family. Old age homes which were not common are now growing rapidly to fulfil needs of these needy elderly people. It is important to understand socio demographic factors of persons living in care homes. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare socio demographic variables between elderly people living in old age home and within the family setup. METHODS A descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The study was conducted at two old age homes and various local areas of Kota, Rajasthan. The sample comprised of 100 participants who were further divided into 50 participants from old age homes and 50 participants from family. A tool such as socio-demographic data sheet was administered to obtain the data. RESULTS Significant difference was found between these groups in age wise, regarding marital status (case - 66 % widow or widower, control - 82 % married), literacy (case - illiterate 52 % middle 30 % secondary or higher 18 % while in control these figures are 34 %, 18 %, 34 %) employment (case - 86 % unemployed while in control it is 30 %), family type (case - 36 % joint family, control - 80 % joint family), socio-economic status (case – lower - 72 % control - upper 84 %) having own house (case - 14 % control - 86 %) attitude of family members (case - attitude of their family members perceived as bad 50 %, normal - 11 %, good - 39 % while in control group these figures are 85, 18 %, 74 %). CONCLUSIONS Socio-demographic factors like marital status, employment status, housing and attitude of family members play a major role in elderly population for which they had to stay in care homes. KEYWORDS Old Age Homes, Socio-demographic Variables, India