Abstract
According to the 1997 Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, all Thai people’s rights are protected.
Particularly, older adults have the right to access health-care services equally as other populations.
Therefore, the Thai Government passed the 2003 Act on Thai Older Persons as law. The purpose of this
study was to describe the satisfaction of older persons with medical and health-care services, according to
the 2003 Act on Thai Older Persons, as those services relate to the Public Health Unit of Pakchong District,
Nakhon Ratchasima Province regarding disease prevention, medical services, and medical treatment. The
study sample consisted of 200 older persons recruited by cluster random sampling and simple random
sampling from a total of 14,135 older adults in Pakchong District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. A structured interview was used to collect the data, which were analyzed with descriptive statistics and t- test.
The results revealed that the majority of the sample had a high level of satisfaction with overall
services and with services on disease prevention (3.51-4.50, p = 0.05), while they had a moderate level of
satisfaction with medical services and medical treatment (2.51-3.50, p = 0.05). In addition, non-significant
differences in overall satisfaction with medical and health-care services between males and females, occupation
(government officer/non-government officer), and dwelling location (municipal/non-municipal)
were found.
The results of this study are expected to provide useful information for health-care providers in
improving medical/health-care services for older persons, such as annual dental care service, annual
physical examination, elderly club activities, special-track services, and environmental safety. These services
should be established to serve the needs of older persons fairly according to the goal of the 2003 Act
on Thai Older Persons.
