Development Model of Elderly Health Care Behavior with Public Mind

Abstract

In order to promote the elderly peoples to have high competency for self heal care and take care other old person with public mind, it needs to understand factors that is affecting to their health behavior. Therefore, the study on elderly health care knowledge, supportive factor, psychological factors and inspiration of public mind will make us more understand the way the elderly people not just only look after themselves but they also are able to assist to help the other elderly people. Moreover, this finding will be useful for our global old citizen to meet the better life quality. The objective was to develop the structural relationship model of elderly health care knowledge, psychological trait, psychological state, and social support affecting through inspiration of public mind to health behavior. The populations were 125,037 elderly peoples in Ratchaburi Province in the year of B.E. 2556. The sample group of 400 elderly peoples were sampling with Multi-stage random sampling technique. Questionnaire was used as research tool that was examined for content validity by 5 experts and it was tried out with the group that was not sample group. The reliability in aspects of elderly health care knowledge, psychological trait, psychological state, supportive factor, inspiration of public mind and health behavior were 0.898, 0.855, 0.878, 0.899, 0.919 and 0.920 respectively. Analysis of causal relationship model was verified with Structural Equation Model (SEM) by using LISREL version 8.72. The results revealed that the developed structural equation model of elderly health care behavior with public mind of elderly people in Ratchaburi Province was congruent to empirical data by considering on the values of X2 / df = 1.609 was lesser than 5, RMSEA= 0.043 (<0.05), GFI=0.94 (0.90-1.00), AGFI=0.91 (0.90-1.00), RMR=0.010 (<0.05). Model composed of 29 observed variables, and 6 latent variables. All factors positively affected to health behavior and were able to explain the variation of health behavior (HB) with 86.00 percents. The latent variable of elderly health care knowledge (EHK) had the most effect to health behavior (HB) with 0.44, and subsequences were inspiration of public mind (IPM), supportive factor (SuF), psychological state (PsS), and psychological trait (PsT) with 0.34, 0.34, 0.25 and 0.19 respectively. Moreover, the latent variable psychological trait (PsT) had the most effect to inspiration of public mind (IPM) with 0.50, and subsequences were psychological state (PsS), supportive factor (SuF), and elderly health care knowledge (EHK) with 0.41, 0.34 and 0.084 respectively.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n6p141