Abstract
This study is an assessment of the operation of Governmental Homes for the Aged through three case studies . The study employs both quantitative and and qualitative methods within the adapted CIPP framework utilizing gender dimensions for data analysis. Assessment of the environmental context of the Homes for the Aged revealed that the space and surroundings of the Home affected the interaction and behavior of the aging residents. Meanwhile, the community adjacent to the Homes and the public were found to have no participation in and investigation of such Homes. As far as the assessment of the aging residents in the Home is concerned, the sample population comprised the women in the lower socioeconomic strata as the majority. Most of the aging sample were admitted to the Homes due to no carer at home. The study found that the high proportion of the aging residents did not participate in any activity arranged by the Homes due to their health problems. However, the majority of the residents were of the opinion that their current lives were better off. The study also found the increasing trend of the Homes to admit the residents with better socio –economic conditions and to confront the residents’ voicing of their rights and benefits. The gender analysis yielded the results that the men residents had better previous socio-economic conditions and more current income than their women fellows. They also had better physical conditions, more kinship network, and participated more in the activities of the Home. The study also found that such men residents had better mental health, more psychological and spiritual needs compared with women. Regarding the potentiality, although the women residents who possessed certain skills were proportionately higher than men, men were more willing to contribute for the social goods than women . Besides, the women residents expressed the will to further live in the Homes more than men. Assessment of the administrative resources of the Homes disclosed that the unit cost per resident was as high as Baht 34,500 annually. In terms of policy, the policy formulated by each Home was found to be lacked of unity due to adherence to various policy orientation. Added to this, the programs and projects were extremely flexible while no mechanism was devised to monitor and evaluate them. Administratively, it was found that the Home locating in the provinces operated as independently as “the Kingdom” and was connected with the central administration than the provinces they attached. As far as the budget allocation was concerned, each Home was found to be highly dependent upon public donation. For personnel administration, the study found that the personnel distribution in each Home was imbalanced with those earmarked. With reference to the services provision, the study found that the aging residents who were not in dire need were admitted. The fact that the main strength of the Home was its capacity to respond to the physical needs of the residents while the main weakness of the Home was its unresponsiveness to psychological and spiritual needs of the residents were also found. For personnel performance, the major problem of the Home was the low quality of the personnel at the services level were also found to be incapable of solving the problems of the residents of the Homes effectively. As regards the operation of the Home, the study found that the services and activities provided were adequate and that the residents were indiscriminatory treated. However, the inequality existed was that the better off residents enjoyed similar benefits of the Home with the poor and needy residents and that the declining residents were somewhat inaccessible to the services provision. Furthermore, since the residents were mere beneficiaries, the sustainability of the services and activities of the Home was far from reality. Lastly, the study found the direct impact of the Home to be the benefits the needy obtained from the Home while the main indirect impact was the inception of the Elderly Social Service Centers in the various communities.
