The Elderly’s Caregiving for Their Families of the Elderly-Senior Citizens Club Nakhonpathom Hospital Nakhonpathom Province

Abstract

The study of the elderly’s and senior citizens’ caregiving to their families; their views and differences were classified with socioeconomic status of their club in Nakhonpathom Hospital. The data were collected from October 2009 to April 2010.
     1. The elderly’s caregiving : Most of the elderly took care of their children, grandchildren and relatives living in the families, especially their grandchildren. They gave care in four aspects; everyday life, illness, psychosocial and economy.
     2. The elderly’s opinions on being caregivers : Most of the elderly agreed in giving care to their families. They believed this was duty of parents to take care of their children and helped keep good relationships in the family as well as the worth usage of the leisure time without thinking that their grandchildren were their load. However, some elderly disagreed with these points of views.
     3. The elderly, who had different ages, family structure and income, and care-receivers, provided significantly different caregiving at 0.05. The young elderly gave more care than the older ones. The elderly in extended families gave more care than those in nuclear families. The elderly in high-income families provided more care than the ones in low-income families.
     4. The elderly, who had different ages, family structure and income, and care-receivers, gave indifferent opinions on being caregivers.