Health Care Behaviors of The Elders Using 11 Basic Elements for Health

Abstract

Background and objective: The changes of population structure in Thailand into aging society have impacts upon health care expenses. In order to reduce these expenses, public health organizations have encouraged people’s participation in health care activities. This study implemented the 11 health care principles as the research framework to thoroughly cover physical, mental, social and spiritual dimensions. The aims of this research were to study the levels of health care behaviors of the elders in accordance with 11 basic elements.

Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with 247 elderly people living in Maka sub-district, Nontai district, Nakhonrajasima province. The 11 health care behaviors questionnaire comprising dietary intake, physical activities, sanitation and health care, emotional control, urination and defecation, the pursuance of a hobby, the creation of closer family bonds, staying in the surroundings that have a good supply of fresh air, morning sunlight exposure, accident prevention and planning for the future, adjusted by the researchers were used to collect the data between June, 2014 and January, 2015. And the descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.

Results: Most of the samples were female (58.7%), aged between 60-69 (41.3%), married and living together (61.9%), had monthly income of 2,000 baht or less (50.2%), and had underlying disease (58.3%) of which the most common was hypertension (56.4%). When each individual aspect was considered, it was found out that most of the samples had the health care behaviors in the good level: dietary intake (85.8%), physical activities (68.4%), sanitation and health care (95.6%), emotional control (98.4%), urination and defecation (100.0%), the pursuance of a hobby (22.3%), the creation of closer family bonds (91.5%), staying in the surroundings that have a good supply of fresh air (100.0%), morning sunlight exposure (97.2%), accident prevention (92.7%), planning for the future (100.0%).

Conclusions: Most of the elderly in Makha sub-district had the health care behaviors in accordance with the 11 basic elements in the good level. However, the aspect of the elderly’s pursuance of a hobby was still unsatisfying. Thus, related organizations need to utilize the research results to find guidelines for promote the elderly’s pursuance of a hobby suitable for their individual ability and interest which can ensure their better quality of life.