ASSESSING AGE-FRIENDLY FEATURES AND NEEDS OF ELDERLY TOWARD AGE-FRIENDLY CITY IN AMPHOE MUANG RATCHABURI PROVINCE THAILAND

Abstract

The growth of demographic ageing and urbanization is the global trend in the 21 century. As a result, WHO (2007) has initiated the age-friendly city guidelines to prepare and support active ageing and ageing in place. The purpose of this study is to assess the age-friendliness of Amphoe Muang, Ractchaburi Province, Thailand, and to describe the factors associated with eight domains of age-friendly city. This study was a cross-sectional study conducted with structured face-to-face interview questionnaire among 437 elders aged ≥ 60 years old living in Amphoe Muang, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. Chi-square Test and Fisher’s Exact Test were used to analyze association between independent and dependent variables with statistical significant of p < 0.05. The result revealed that there was an association between social factors and eight domains of age-friendly city in: knowledge on right to access to health with transportation (p<0.000), housing (p=0.046), social participation (p=0.018), civic participation and employment (p<0.000), and communication and information (p=0.004). In addition, there was an association between knowledge on environmental effect on health with housing (p=0.035); knowledge on community activity with social participation (p=0.022); and frequency in participating in community activity with social participation (p=0.021), civic participation and employment (p= < 0.038), and community support and health services (p=0.01). In conclusion, knowledge about health and participation in community activities was related to the eight domains of age-friendly city which promoted healthy ageing. The finding of this study will assist in planning and developing strategies for Amphoe Muang, Ratchaburi Province, to become a more age-friendly city in the future.