To assess the health seeking behaviour among elderly people in Bhopal

Abstract

Background: According to Population Census 2011 there are nearly 104 million elderly persons (aged 60 years or above) in India. Health status is an important factor that has a significant impact on the quality of life of an elderly populationObjective: Primary: Assess the health seeking behaviour among elderly in Bhopal M.P.Secondary: 1.To estimates the prevalence of chronic morbidity among elderly.2. To know the source of financial support and the cause of not seeking the treatment regularly.Method: The present study was conducted in urban slums of selected wards of  Bhopal city in Madhya Pradesh, it was a cross sectional study which was conducted from February 2015 to May 2016 , Data was collected and entered in MS excel-2007, analysis was done by using Epinfo-7.Result- out of 300 elderly ,majority (78.6%) were taking treatment for their health problems. Most of them 123(60.33%) prefer Government hospital for their treatment. Those who are not seeking any treatment among them most common reason was that they thought  the disease is because of old age followed by financial problem.Conclusion: This highlights the need to provide suitable health facilities and affordable health care to the elderly in to ensure their active aging we need to make some Health care strategies specific to the elderly needs.