POLICIES AND PRACTICES OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS IN ENHANCING THE HEALTH OF THE ELDERLY IN SAM PHRAN DISTRICT, NAKHON PATHOM PROVINCE

Abstract

The aims of this research are to study policies and practices of the community organizations (Village health volunteer (VHV), Women's development fund (Women's role)), and the local government officials in Raikhing municipal (Municipal) in enhancing the health of the elderly in Sam Phran District, Nakhon Pathom Province; including the perception and needs of the elderly in the sample community. One hundred and nine people are data contributors; 31 VHV’s staffs, 24 Women's role staffs, 21 Municipal officers,  and 33 seniors who are resident in the municipality.  Research tool is an structured open-ended interview /questionnaire of ten policies synthesized from 1. The "Thai Elderly"  Declaration 1999. 2. The National Elderly Plan No. 2 (2002-2564), 1st Edition, 2009. 3. The National Elderly Health Plan, Vol. 2. Government Policy 2002 - 2564  and 4. Government Policy for the elderly. Results show that 1. The Village health volunteer (VHV) group operates under policies 1-7, focusing on health care. health services, the accessibility to the needs of life, aging activities and services provided by community and related networks; including doing the data-base of the elderly community health. However, there is very little practice in policy 9 on revenue generation for elderly, and policy 10 that focuses on research. develop knowledge, evaluate the work of various agencies. Also, there is no operation of policy 8, as it is a policy of senior management that focuses on the development of the elderly people and integrates the work plans of the various agencies into their own. National government. 2. The operations of Women's development fund (Women's role) group are found in policy-based 1-7 and 9, which focus on earning and loaning system for the elderly. aging’s accessibility to the rights and protection system, and promoting recreational activities between the elderly and family/society. However, the results show that there is very little implementation in policy 10 and no operation on policy 8 for the same reasons as mentioned in the VHV group. 3. The local government officials in Raikhing municipal (Municipal) group operates on policies 1-7 and 9-10, with sub-divisions acting on each issue to coordinate the implementation of the assigned policies to achieve the goals and efficiency. However, the results show that there is very little implementation in policy 8, for the same reasons as mentioned in the VHV group. 4. Elderly people in Raikhing community, Sam Phran District, Nakhon Pathom Province, are aware of the policies 1-7 and 9, but the elderly are less aware of the implementation of the policy 2 – emphasizing on income, health, finance, social protection systems; and policy. 3 - focusing on providing caregivers. protection of the elderly to stay with the family. Moreover, the elderly in the Raiking municipality, there is no awareness of policy 8 and policy 10 which are the works of the government operators. These results are consistent with the performance of the three sample organizations above . The results of the Raiking aging needs are also the same as their perception.