Daily Living Activities of Home-Bound Elderly in a Northern Thai Suburban Community

The world including Thailand is facing up to a rapidly growing ageing population. In order to reduce the need of care for elderly people, they must be enabled to carry out basic activities at home, which are associated with safe and independent daily living. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of elderly people in performing their daily activities while living at home in the community of Namprae and Sanklang villages, Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Activities of Daily Living (ADL) assessment was developed to measure functional status based on the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) concept. Data collection included interviews with the subjects and observation of their performance at their home and in the community. The study found that all of the elderly people communicated (spoke, produced non-verbal messages and conversed) independently. The majority also acted independently in eating and drinking, but they needed some assistance from people or equipment in activities such as driving, preparing meals, doing housework, moving around, washing and walking. Most of the home-bound elderly people performed ADL independently, whereas, they depended on transportation and driving while living at their home. Thai people, especially in the elderly section, have been influenced strongly by religion (Buddhism) in a spiritual dimension, but about half of the participants in this study had limitations in religion and spirituality. This situation created an environmental barrier that caused the limitation of physical function in elderly people when performing ADL.