Browsing by Author "Nor Aisah bt. Areff"

This case study explored the influence of socio-economic factors such as age, ethnicity, education, occupation, income and health on the lives of elderly residents at Taiping, Perak geriatric home. Their religion and the nature and quality of relationship with their children were also examined. Information was collected from June 24 to July 4 1998. A structured interview questionnaire was used on a purposive sample. Simple descriptive statistics were applied for the analysis of the data. First, the study identified the general demographic characteristics of the respondents. In general, the average respondent admitted to this place was above the age of 60 years, male, unmarried, did not have high level of education and was financially dependent. They were predominantly urban, Malays and Muslims, had stayed at this facility from less than a year to three years, were reasonably healthy and nearly half of them were able to perform certain physical tasks. It was also discovered that religion was considered important in their daily lives, but further research is needed to investigate its actual relationship with their life pattern. The respondents seemed to posses neither the Imowledge nor the skill that could enable them to secure better jobs with pension or insurance benefits. Thus, they depended solely on the facility for their support and sustenance. In terms of health, they were relatively healthy, although a small number of them suffered from failing health and physical disabilities, which required constant assistance from the staff. Most of the time, they would however exercise their personal independence especially in carrymg out their personal and private activities. Their psychological feelings were explored by studying their relationship with the people close to them like their children, relatives, friends and staff of the facility. It appeared that respondents who had children were admitted there because the latter did not have adequate time and/or income to support them. In addition, strained relationships between respondents and their children also hindered the latter to fulfill their responsibilities towards their parents. Consequently, the respondents felt disillusioned with and rejected by their children and thus sought solace among friends and the staff at the facility. We also found out that more than half of the respondents were unmarried (single, divorced or widowed) and did not have a spouse or children to rely on. This fact also became the reason for their admission. Regardless of the reasons for their admission to the home, they were in general grateful to be taken care of and regarded it as their permanent home. They also had accepted their fate and tried to make the best of their presence.