Model of Day-Care Service Center for The Elders in Thailand

Abstract

The objective of this research is to study the elderly recipient’s qualification and the suitable model of day-care service center for the elders in Thailand. This is a qualitative research. Sample group of people consisted of 3 groups: 1) Executives and personnel in the elderly care center 2) Elderly recipients of the services 3) Relatives or siblings of the elderly recipients. Totaled 60 key informants.  Data was collected by document analysis, observation and in-depth interview.  The results were analyzed by context analysis technique. It is found from the study that the elders receiving the services at the day care center are the elders who are at the early, middle and late age of being elders, who can independently perform daily routine but may need to rely on others in certain activities and they are not bed-ridden elders. The model of day-care service center consisted of 5 factors: 1) Creating a goal of providing a good quality of life and realizing the value of being an elder 2) Providing different activities for different age groups 3) Designing the care model suitable and according to the deterioration of physical ability of the elders 4) Pick-up/drop-off area, accommodation and care equipment must be ready in providing the conveniences for the elders and the caregivers 5) Service information linkage through the smart phone of the elderly caregiver (or for the service recipient), to be able to follow/monitoring the elder’s behavior at all times.