Health status of the elderly: Pradicaments and prospects in urban Odisha

In this paper an attempt was made to appraise the health status of the elderly with a view to explore the extent of family support in caring the elderly in urban areas of Odisha. The data for this purpose was gathered from randomly selected 204 (male=108 and female=98) elderly, sixty years and above. A questionnaire containing questions on three aspects of health, namely, ailment, medical treatment undergone by elderly and disabilities experienced by elderly was administered to the subjects individually. The evidence on ailment provides the incidence of illness among the elderly male and female. The information on disability gives the disabilities status in terms of visual, hearing, and locomotors disabilities. The information on medical treatment undergone provides nature and type of surgery of the elderly concerning their current health status.