Needs and the Response to Needs of the Elderly from Public Services Provision of Thai Municipalities

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to: 1) study the level of elderly’s needs from the public services provision of municipalities; 2) to compare needs and the responses to needs of the elderly from public services provision of Thai Municipality. The research was conducted by the quantitative research. Data were collected using questionnaires. The sample sizes consisted of 385 elderly people in municipal areas using multistage sampling. The statistics were used for analysis were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and paired samples t-test. The findings showed that the overall needs of elderly people were at high level and the overall mean score of the response to the needs of the elderly people was at the moderate level. The highest need was the need for health and medication, followed by the need for participation in a social support network, the need for basic means for living, and venues for organizing activities, respectively. The responses to needs of the elderly people were at moderate level. The highest need response was participation in a social support network, followed by basic means for living, and venues for organizing activities, respectively. For the comparison of the needs and needs response, it was found that an older person’s needs were greater than their need response. The recommendations of this study were: 1 ) The municipalities should provide public service to fulfill the requirements of elderly people’s needs, especially in health and medication; 2) the government should empower more financial capacity and budgeting to municipalities, as well as amend laws that can facilitate the implementation the elderly’s missions efficiently.