PERCEPTION OF THE ELDERLY TOWARDS THE USE OF SPECIALISED HOME FOR THE AGED IN IBADAN NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE

Abstract

The rampant social neglect of the elderly as depicted on the streets of Ibadan caused by modern life job demand of significant social support and eroding culture of caring for the elderly that has crept into our society necessitated this study. Furthermore, there is dearth of studies investigating the perception of the elderly towards the use of specialised home for the aged in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Oyo State. This study was therefore, designed to investigate the perception of the elderly towards the use of specialised home for the aged in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Oyo State. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey which used a simple random sampling technique in selecting 384 consenting participants in Ibadan North Local Government A rea. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on respondents’ s ocio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of the elderly on usefulness of specialised home, perception of the elderly on use of specialised home for the aged and willingness of elders towards the use of specialised home for the aged. Knowledge was assessed on a 20-point scale and scores between ≤0-6, 7-13 and ≥14-20 were categorised as ‘poor’, ‘fair’ and ‘good’ respectively, perception was assessed on a 30-point scale and scores ≤0-14 and ≥14-30 were categorised as ‘poor and good’ respectively while willingness was assessed on a 18 point scale and scores between ≤0-9 and ≥9-18 as ‘not willing’ and ‘willing’ respectively. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test at p < 0.05. Mean age of respondents was 65.5±0.5 years and 67.2% were married. Mean knowledge score was 3.0±0.1 and those with fair and good knowledge were 1.3% and 98.7% respectively. Majority (99.5%) perceived adoption of specialised home for the aged as a good alternative for catering/caring for the elderly and 78.6% were willing to adopt specialised home for aged. Main reason for the unwillingness of some of the respondents was the African culture of reciprocal care of the aged. Significant association was found between the perception of the elderly on specialised home for the aged and their willingness to utilise such specialised home. Despite favourable perception and willingness towards adoption and utilisation, many respondents were not unwilling to utilise specialised home for the aged, on cultural grounds. Health promotion strategies

such as advocacy, public enlightenment, training and social support are needed to boost the perception and willingness of the respondents towards adopting specialised home for the aged.