Developing Quality of Life for the Elderly through Holistic Healthcare Approach for Controlling and Preventing NCDs in Bang Khla District, Chachoengsao Province, Thailand

Author(s): Nawasanan Wongprasit

This research was a mixed methods research, and its objectives were to: 1) Improve the health-related quality of life of the elderly in Bang Khla District, Chachoengsao Province, through a holistic healthcare approach for non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) control and prevention; 2) Develop the elderly role models in holistic healthcare for controlling and preventing NCDs in Bang Khla district communities; 3) Promote physical health of the elderly by providing holistic care in controlling and preventing NCDs; 4) Promote mental, emotional and spiritual health of the elderly based on the holistic care approach; 5) Improve the quality of life in terms of society and environment of the elderly through community participation in holistic healthcare; and 6) Establish a sustainable holistic healthcare network for the elderly in Bang Khla district communities. The qualitative sample consisted of 20 professional nurses responsible for NCDs at Samet Tai Subdistrict Health Promotion Hospital, the elderly and their families, monks, local government executives, village headmen or subdistrict headmen, village health volunteers, and health promotion teachers. The quantitative sample consisted of 60 older people. The instruments used were in-depth interviews and questionnaires. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The study results showed as follows: 1) Existing situation and problems in holistic healthcare for the elderly were found that most elderly people had deteriorating physical body, physically weak; they had food that was not appropriate for their age, lacked exercise, had chronic diseases, and lacked knowledge and understanding in self-care. They also had mental health problems including loneliness, boredom, abandonment, and depression. In social and environmental aspects, they lacked having social contact with others, rarely going out, not being taken care by their families not as what they should and living in environment inconducive to healthy living. Holistic healthcare program for improving the quality of life of the elderly to control and prevent NCDs should have comprehensive elements including physical, mental, social, spiritual and environmental knowledge and home visits, as well as establishing a network to set up NCDs centers at selected prototype elderly homes to provide close-to-home and friendly advice. 2) Improving the health-related quality of life of the elderly to control and prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs) was found that the average score of quality of life after training was higher than before training but overall at a high level. Ranked in order from highest to lowest average, they were relationships with other people, personality development, happiness, social and community activities, and recreation. 3) The overall level of holistic healthcare to control and prevent NCDs in the elderly was at a high level. The average values were ranked from highest to lowest: intellectual dimension, mental dimension, spiritual dimension, physical dimension, and social dimension. 4) Promoting physical health of the elderly through holistic care in controlling and preventing NCDs: It was found that most elderly people ate foods that were not appropriate for their age, lacked exercise, and had underlying diseases. They lacked knowledge, understanding, and hardly accessed to health information for care. It should promote them eating healthy food and exercising appropriately for their age conducive to healthy body. 5) Promoting mental, emotional, and spiritual health of the elderly based on the holistic healthcare approach: Their mental problems included being left alone at home, being lonely, being bored, and fear that their children and grandchildren would not take care of them when they got older. To enhance their knowledge about how to manage their own emotions, they should be promoted to do meditation to calm their mind and to do exercise to make the brain release endorphins for mind relaxing, understand the truth of life and nature. 6) Social and environmental quality of life of the elderly through community participation: It was found that the elderly should be promoted to receive compassion and public utilities that were equal and fair to everyone, with good relationships with each other. 7) Building a sustainable holistic elderly care network in Bang Khla District community: It was found that an NCD prevention center was established in Samet Tai Subdistrict, located at the house of the elderly model selected from this project, to be a place to provide basic advice to the elderly who needed knowledge and to measure blood pressure or check sugar levels without having to go to the hospital, which would be a good model for other communities to use in the future.