Preparation Guidelines for Entering the Elderhood of People in Chiang Rai Municipality Jurisdiction

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กาญจนา สนิท
นาวิน พรมใจสา
ศิวาพร วังสมบัติ

Abstract

The purposes of this study were: 1) to study preparation of people in entering the
elderhood; and 2) to investigate the preparation guidelines for the people in entering the
elderhood. The population was 400 people in Chiang Rai municipality jurisdiction with an
agerangebetween40to59yearsold.Theresearchinstrumentwasquestionnaireandthe
data analysis involved frequency counts, percentage, and one-way ANOVA.
The fndings showed that majority of the population was female with their age
range between 55 to 59 years old; their education background was lower than bachelor
degree; their marital status was married; their health conditions showed trivial degree of
sickness; they didn’t have any extra career; they had enough income suffciently with
expenses; and they had some savings; and when they turned 60 years old, they planned
to stay with their spouse. Majority of the people viewed that the elder people held the
capacitytoprovidebeneftstothesociety,soitwouldbeagreatchanceforfullrelaxation
andhappiness.Thepeoplewereuncertainthatiftheywereintheagingperiod,theywould
still receive praise and honor or it would be the best time in their life, and they thought
thatitwouldnotbeanexpectingmoment.So,theelderpeopleshouldreceivehealthcare
servicebyhavingthephysicalcheck-upannually,recordandcontroltheexpensesaccount for the purpose of savings, receive recreation activities in the family for a happy and quality
life with the family until the last moment of their lives but refrain from full expectation of
the frequent recreation activities for personal development. The people held readiness to
enter the elderhood in the aspect of physical readiness at the highest level by means of
frequent and appropriate exercising activities and good healthcare on health problems.
The subsequent was the metal readiness as the elderly prepared their mind for the old
age years that their roles in the society would be reduced and receiving less respect from
the other people. For the economics aspect, they prepared the savings for emergency
needs. In regard to the housing aspect, the elder people planned to have their own house.
Time utilization was the least prepared aspect, but they had appropriate plan for using
the time. Problems and obstacles in preparation for entering the old age period was that
the majority of the elderly had insuffcient saving money and they lacked knowledge and
understanding in preparation to enter the elderhood. Moreover, they had burden to look
after the other people.
Factors affecting the preparation to enter the elderhood of the people in Chiang
Rai municipality jurisdiction were age, economics situation, attitudes towards being the
elder, expectation towards their roles in entering the old age years, and the degree of
problems and obstacles towards the preparation to enter the elderhood.
Policy recommendations for the preparation to enter the elderhood of people in
Chiang Rai municipality jurisdiction were:
1. People should receive healthcare service by annual physical check-up and study
their own physical check-up results. Record and control their expenses account and
perform fnancial plan to have enough savings. Encourage and promote the recreation
activities in the family in order to nurture the mental health of the elder. Assign the person
who would reside with the elder and arrange the settings in the house appropriately as
well as promote learning for understanding in preparation for entering the old age years.
2. Promote the activities at the community to have a chance to talk to people of
the same age with emphasis on activities promoting mental training and utilizing time
practically. Government should encourage and promote the activities involving the elder
club and organization networking consistently. And, encourage the community to arrange
the activities developing the elderly quality of life frequently.
3. The involved organizations should promote the people to perceive the importance of preparation to enter the elderhood with an emphasis on the participation in all
levels. Arrange the activities promoting knowledge in preparation to enter the elderhood that correspond with the current situations and appropriate with the target groups.

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