Psychological Health of Elderly Population

Abstract

During the last century, the biggest achievement of the human civilization has been a major breakthrough in health sector which has brought with it greater life- expectancy at birth. In India, people’s life expectancy at birth has risen from 49.7 years during 1970- 75 to 60.3 years during 1991 to 95 and by the turn of the century it was 66 years (Source: www.censusofindia.com). Increased longevity created the phenomenon of population ageing and it has become one of the toughest challenges to be met by the society. In the developing country like India, meaning of old age is related to physical incapacity, psychological failures, deterioration and disabilities etc. It is a phase of rapid decline in the mental and emotional health of one’s life. Chronologically the age of 58 or 60 is considered to be the beginning of the old age which is accompanied by a series of problems in their day- to- day life; such as income generation, health, use of free time social security, social participation dignity and respect and so on. In the present study, emphasis is laid on the psychological health of the elderly population which affects the quality of their life to great extent.