Guideline to Improve the Elderly’s Quality of Life in Chantaburi Province

Abstract

               This research aimed to study the elderly’s quality of life and to propose guidelines to improve the elderly’s quality of life in Chantaburi Province. Survey research was conducted with the application of questionnaires. The samples were 396 elderly people from different districts retrieved by stratified random sampling method. The 5-rating scale questionnaires consisted of 31 items with the discrimination of .25-.88, and the reliability .96 were used. The data was analyzed by SPSS program, percentage, means, standard deviation, One-way ANOVA, and T-test. The guideline to improve the elderly’s quality of life was presented through focus group discussion. The results found:

               1) In over all, the elderly’s quality of life in Chantaburi Province was in good condition. When studied by each aspect, it found 5 aspects of the quality of life were in good condition while 1 aspect was in moderate condition. when ordered by level of the condition of the quality of life, it was presented as moral, physical environment, society, health, intelligence, and economy respectively.

               2) When classified by gender, education, and incomes the study revealed different conditions of quality of life with no statistical significance. However, when classified by underlying disease, and the membership of the elderly club, the study revealed different conditions of quality of life with statistical significance of .05.

              3) The guideline to improve the elderly’s quality of life in Chantaburi Province showed that the improvement of the quality of life should cover all
areas-health, physical environment, intelligence, economy, moral, and society.