Adult Caring in Sri Lanka

Abstract

In Sri Lanka senior citizens fall into the category of over 60 years of age andthey fall into the fastest growing segment of the world population. In Sri Lanka theproportion of elders over 60 to 70 years is about 56.4% and 70 to 80 years 32.2 %. Thepercentage of those who have reached 80 years or more is over 11%.

Sri Lanka was enriched with a culture to look after the parents by their ownchildren. But with the economic and social changes of the country, the connectionbetween the parents and the children detached. The government imposed laws and actsregarding adult caring are not sufficient for this situation. Though the elders‟ homeswere established, the quality and the facilities of the adult homes are not sufficient fortheir requirements. Furthermore, poor and disabled adults face more difficulties inaccessing these facilities due to their financial difficulties. Therefore, most of the adultscannot live happily in their last stage due to the unhygienic condition. Therefore, thefacilities and the training should be developed in order to fulfil the needs of a qualityadult caring.

The objective of the research is to find out the present status of the senior citizencaring and its difficulties, and also to introduce new methods and ways to upgrade thecaring system in Sri Lanka.

Both the quantitative and the qualitative methods will be used to gather theinformation. There will be two focus groups, such as the senior citizens and the public.Around 100 people will be interviewed from both the categories .The advice and theguidelines will be taken from the government, NGOs and the scholars. There will be asecondary data analysis apart from the interviews to gain the proper findings.

Key words: Senior Citizens, Caring, Sri Lanka, Economy, Financial