Nahid Ferdousi
Bangladesh Open University, Bangaladesh
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Primary Health Care
Elderly is a fast growing population group in the world. In this stage they become more vulnerable and destitute due to lack of proper attention of society, particularly in physical and mental health care. Globally, developed and developing countries are seeking better ways to provide the best care for elderly people and take initiative to formulate improved policies to ensure proper care. The government of Bangladesh recently has become more aware of the elderly services but this is not enough for their nursing and caring. In this regards, ethics is a fundamental part of older care and socio-legal settings are significant factors for the protection of elderly people. Moreover, the living arrangement and the familial relationship are considered a major determinant of elderly care and well-being. In the Bangladeshi society, there are two types of approaches to offer services for the elderly, family and institutional care. But, institutional care for the elderly in the country is still extremely limited. From both settings, they suffer from sufficient health and medical care, proper food and clothing, recreation and financial support. Unfortunately, there are no separate geriatrics departments for elderly care in both private and public hospitals all over the country. However, there is no statistics whether the elderly prefer live in institutions or in family and how far the family or institutions meet the needs of the elderly. This has remained as an important question in the field of elderly care. Thus, elderly population presents considerable challenges to governments and the society to provide innovative and efficient ways to deliver essential care and facilities. In this backdrop, this paper attempts to analyze the present institutional care services and challenges whether it is sufficient for the elderly people in Bangladesh. nahid329@yahoo.com
