Abstract
An Evaluation on Social Services for Aging People in Communities: A Case Study of Services of Welfare Centers in Communities This study aims to study social services in communities; especially, which aging people reached; quality of life of aging people; and their troubles and life satisfaction. This study also aims to study the welfare centers in communities’ operations and the relationship of communities’ strength and the welfare centers’ effectiveness. There were 2 types of data, primary and secondary. Primary data were both in qualitative and quantitative forms, collected by interviewing 380 aging people, 101 heads of welfare centers, other people such as, teachers, health officers, monks, imams, merchants and other peasants including juveniles from 19 amphurs, 9 provinces of every part of Thailand. Secondary data were documentary data; such as, handbooks, reports, official memorandum and national policies. The results of the study are as follow: 1. Social services in communities: privilege cards service, institutional service, social group service, and service or assistance from community leaders. - Social services which aging people could reach and were satisfied most were all kinds of health services; such as, hospitals, health centers, including the convenience in using health cards. - Services or assistance from community leaders were fair, mostly moderately good in quantity; such as, giving foods, cloths, money or things. Other services which could help people – in - troubles to have better life quality were low. - Service from social groups in communities which most aging people preferred was ‘cremation service’, a community fund which people in community raises every time one member in the village dies, both in the form of legal and illegal ones. However, aging people preferred illegal cremation fund services to legal ones. 2. An evaluation on welfare centers in communities. Welfare centers in communities, which their objectives were to help people from troubles, were moderately successful in doing their careers because of the insufficiency of knowledge in welfare services. 3. The study on community strength related to aging people’s life quality and life satisfaction. Aging people in highly strengthened communities have been supported in money, foods and things, messages and visits from family members, friends, neighbors and other people more than those lived in less strengthened ones. From the findings shown above, it leads to the following suggestions: 1. In the policy level. - It is not necessary to implement one national policy in every part of the country. - The national policies should be really suitable to the situation and needs of people. 2. In the operational level. - The concepts and trends of forming welfare centers in communities should be readjusted. Members of the centers must have, at least, basic knowledge on social welfare and social work in order to be able to help people – in - troubles as much as possible. - Local government officers in charge of welfare services, if they really know what and how to do welfare careers, they could be the greatest assistants in communities.
