Longevity of the population in our country improved over a period of time and it is worthwhile studying the 90+ people of Kerala to understand the reason for their long-living and the problems they face due to the long life. The primary objective of the study was to explore the social correlates of elderly women life in Kerala society. In all, 50 centenarians were picked from three districts for data collection.
Major Findings:
Socio-demographic analysis
The socio-demographic analysis showed that nine out of ten were widows and had lost their husbands since an average of nine to 12 years. 90% of them were living with their children. The case studies showed that there is no correlation between income and longevity. The poor and the rich are having long life.
Health and Disease History – Personal & Familial
Health and disease history showed that more than three fourth of them had no serious ailments that hospitalized them in the past. 60% of them are seen helping in kitchen and doing their duties by themselves. More than three fourth of them rarely took medicine from doctors. They took home remedies as far as possible and rarely went for allopathic medicines.
Nutrition, Food and Other Habits
Food habits showed that 20% of them are vegetarians. 82% of them said that they eat only when they felt hungry. Fasting once a week helped to restrict their diet. Nutritious drinks, milk and buttermilk formed part of about three fourth of the respondents’ diet after the age of 70. They attributed the long life to the good food they had throughout their life.
Stress, Strain, Coping Mechanisms and Spirituality
About 2/3 of them said that they underwent minute stress and strain in their lives. Loss of close kin has been the cause of greatest depression. 98% of them are strongly religious and said that they enjoyed the good will of god. The case studies showed that there is a positive correlation between longevity and less strain and tension.
Social support and family interaction
98% of them reported good family relations throughout their past years. 94% of them said that they enjoyed the good will of most of their kith and kin. The case studies illustrated that most of the women who had a longer life had a good support system.
Cognition, Comprehension, Memory
Most of them had a very poor memory. Even though they could recall clearly most of the things that took place early in the life, they added that they are forgetting names etc of late. Due to loss of denture, there were some difficulty in understanding what they said but they were able to communicate what they felt.