An Empirical Study to Measure the Quality of Life and Happiness among Elders Residing in Family and Old Age Home

Abstract

In this investigation an attempt was taken to explore the relationship between the level of quality of life and happiness among elders residing in old age home and in the family. The study was carried on by formulating three hypotheses that (a)- Elders residing in old age home and in the family would differ significantly in terms of their quality of life. (b)- Elders residing in old age home and in the family would differ significantly in terms of their happiness. (c)-Quality of life and Happiness would be positively correlated. The study was conducted on 100 old aged people of Patna (50 old aged people, residing in Sahara Old Age Home, Rukanpura, Patna and 50 old aged people living with families), by employing incidental sampling technique. Their age ranged from 65 to 70 years. The WHOQOL-BREF was applied to measure quality of life among elders residing in old age home and in the family while Oxford happiness scale developed by Michael Argyle and Peter Hills (Oxford University) was used to assess the level of happiness among residing in old age home and in the family.  A Personal Data Sheet was also used to gather necessary information from the respondents. The obtained scores were statistically analysed and verified by computing t-ratio and co-efficient of correlation. The result proved all the hypotheses. It was concluded that there is significant difference between quality of life and happiness among elders residing in old age home and in the family. It was also found by the researcher that happiness and quality of life were positively correlated.