Care and Support for the Elderly: A Comparative Study in Rural and Urban Setups in Odisha

At any age, the family provides the individual the emotional, social, and economic support (Soldo and Agree, 1988). The ability of the aged persons to cope with the changes in health, income, social activities, etc. at the older ages, depends to a great extent on the support the person gets from his/her family members. Demographics in India suggest that majority of seniors live with immediate family members and family continues to be the main provider of elder care. Indian society had traditional informal support systems such as joint family, kin and community. Due to modernization, urbanization and globalization, the capacity of the traditional informal support system is slowly weakening and is not in a position to fulfil the basic needs of the elderly. The traditional joint family system in India is on the decline and more families are becoming nuclear. Given this background, it is important to explore the current nature of care and support for the elderly in families (a comparison between urban and rural setup).An attempt is made in this study to analyse the family support for the aged and the changes that are occurring in urban and rural setup. Attention is also focused on the factors affecting the care and the support for the aged in the families and the perceptions of the aged regarding the care and support they are getting from their family members. For this purpose the data was gathered from a study of the aged persons conducted in two different setups (urban and rural setup). The survey was personally conducted as a source of basic material for a minor research project approved by UGC, New Delhi.