Assess the Social Problems and Coping Strategies of Senior Citizens in Selected Rural Areas of District Patiala, Punjab

The present study was conducted to assess the social problems and coping strategies of senior citizens in selected rural areas of district Patiala, Punjab. A non-experimental research approach with descriptive survey design was used to collect the relevant information from 140 senior citizens at village Tarkheri Kalan. The data were collected by conducting a structured interview schedule and then compiled and analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. After analysis, data were presented through tables and figures. Findings revealed that 37% of the subjects usually and 33% of the subjects sometimes feel loneliness. Whereas 39% of the subjects usually and 33% of the subjects sometime experiencing problems due to poor health and the results also shows that 38% of subjects sometime and 37% of the subjects usually economically dependent on others whereas 44% of the subjects are usually and 31% of the subjects are sometimes abused by other people. At last 45% of the subjects sometime and 22% of the subjects rarely experiencing problems related to their family and community members. Study also concluded that majority of subjects i.e. 94.3% had adaptive coping strategies and only a few percentage i.e. 5.7% of subjects had maladaptive coping strategies. The study was limited to the senior citizens staying with their family members. Similar study could be carried out on the problems of senior citizens staying in old age homes and a comparative study could be undertaken in the rural and urban areas.