Awareness and Utilization of Geriatric Welfare Services among Elderly in Nainital District of Uttarakhand

"Introduction: Population ageing is an important emerging demo-graphic phenomenon in India. The wide gamuts of social, psycho-emotional and financial correlates determine the medical problems in elderly which need to be addressed. Thus this study was undertaken to know the awareness and utilization of geriatric welfare services among elderly in Nainital district of Uttarakhand. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conduct-ed in the rural areas of Haldwani, Nainital district of Uttarakhand. 440 elderly populations were selected by two stage sampling tech-nique. Data was collected using interview method and analysis was done using SPSS v 16. Chi square test was used and p value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Majority of the elderly were in 60-69 years of age group, female elderly outnumbered male. Most of the elderly were illiterate, not working, married, belongs to class III and were financially dependent on their family. The awareness for old age pension scheme was seen in 97.3% while19.7% was utilizing it. The awareness and utilization of other services was poor. Conclusion: The awareness about geriatric welfare services was low. Also the utilization of these services among elderly was very poor. The rural setting might be one of the causes for it. "