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Title:
To study the attitudes and opinions of the residents of a ‘Old-age’ home in Pune towards the
facilities provided to them and also towards the NGO that manages this ‘Old-age’ home.

Managerial Brief:
Our manager is the Director of an UK based funding agency. He has appointed an NGO to
manage one ‘old-age-home’ in Pune. Our manager wants to know the opinions and attitudes
of the residents of the old-age-home towards the facilities provided and also towards the
NGO.
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Importance of the project:

Traditionally, in India, the most common form of family structure was the joint family. But
with growing urbanization and depending on the availability of jobs, children are moving out
of the extended family set-up, leaving the ‘empty nest’ and establishing their own nuclear
families.Migration of young couples from the rural areas to cities in search of better
employment opportunities to fend for themselves resulted in left alone old ones of the family.
Youngsters on their part are sometimes resentful of the attitude of their parents. Many
youngsters have moved to places far away from their native homes and in the recent past to
many countries abroad. So even if they want to they cannot accommodate their parents in
their own homes. Elders are sometimes too incapacitated or unwell to look after themselves
or get medical care especially in an emergency.

Old age homes are meant for senior citizens who are unable to stay with their families or are
destitute. These old age homes have special medical facilities for senior citizens such as
mobile health care systems, ambulances, nurses and provision of well-balanced meals. For
older people who have nowhere to go and no one to support them, old age homes provide a
safe haven. These homes also create a family like atmosphere among the residents. Senior
citizens experience a sense of security and friendship when they share their joys and sorrows
with each other. Old-age homes ensure that senior citizens feel at home, are comfortable and
lead a happy and peaceful life. The optimum facilities need to be provided to the residents of
the old-age home for their comfort and peaceful living. The residents pay nominal charges for
the facilities provided to them. The funding agency provides the remaining charges.

This study will help the manager to understand:

 The opinions and attitudes of the residents of old-age-home towards the facilities
provided and also towards the NGO.
 It will further help us in getting better insights from the residents regarding scope for
improvement in the facilities provided to them like lodging, boarding, medical health,
recreation, safety & security and other services.
 It will also help the manager to understand that how effectively NGO is managing the
old-age home.
 This study will also help the manager to understand how effectively NGO is utilizing
the funds that are being provided by the funding agency.

Objectives:
 To study the opinions of the residents towards the facilities provided and the NGO.
 To study the attitudes of the residents towards the facilities provided and the NGO.
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Sub-objectives:
 To know the level of satisfaction of the inmates with regards to the services and
facilities provided by the old age homes.
 To identify the various problems faced by the old age homes.
 To provide suggestions based on the findings of the study.

Scope:
The research is conducted and restricted to the old-age-home in Pune. This old-age home is
managed by an NGO which in turn get its funds from a funding agency of UK.

Operational Definitions:

 Attitude: Attitudes are positive, negative or neutral views of an object i.e. a person,
behaviour or event. For this project, it is towards the various facilities provided to the
residents at the old-age-home.

 Opinion: Opinion means a person's own view or attitude about something. An opinion
is how someone would judge or esteem something to be based on their thoughts or value
system.

 Respondents: Respondents are the residents of the old age home who avail the
facilities provided at the old age home.

 Facilities: Something designed, built, installed, etc., to serve a specific function

affording a convenience or service. For this project, facilities refer to the services
provided at the old age home in terms of lodging, boarding, medical health,
transportation, recreation, safety & security and other services.

 Satisfaction: The contentment one feels when one has fulfilled a desire, need, or
expectation.

 Old-age home: Old age homes are meant for senior citizens who are unable to stay
with their families or are destitute.
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Exploratory Research:
Secondary data will be used for the purpose of exploratory study.

Secondary data:
This is a survey of old age homes in Kannur. This case study helps us to understand the
management of the financial, infrastructural and other aspects related to the Management of
Old Age Home in Kannur.It also gives us a fair idea about the conditions of the residents of
this old-age home and the facilities being provided to them.

1). Old-Age Homes at Kannur- A Study

Findings of the study:

 Govt. managed old age homes are very few in number when compared to that others.
 Most of the old age homes have their own land and building.
 Most of the old age homes are incurring an average monthly expense of Rs 20,000 to
Rs.40, 000.
 All the old age homes are having telephone facility and recreation facility.
 Most of the old age homes employ workers for food preparation and distribution work.
 The inmates staying at the old age homes have been staying there for a period of 3 to5
years.
 Majority of the inmates are satisfied with their stay at the old age homes.

Tools for Data Analysis

Simple percentage method was used for the analysis of data. Tabular form is used for data
presentation.
Data collected from the Management of Old age Homes in Kannur
I. Availability of facilities and Services:
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INTERPRETATION:

The table shows that all the old age homes have telephone and recreation facility.
94.4% of the old age homes are having Library/Reading room facility. It is also seen that only
50% have vehicle facility. Hence we can draw the conclusion that all the old age homes have
telephone facility and recreation facility.

II. Manpower employed at Old age Homes:

INTERPRETATION:

From the table it could be inferred that 23 workers are employed for food preparation and
distribution. 9 workers are employed in Administration Department. 6 workers are employed
for nursing care and as watchmen. And 11 workers are employed for other work. Hence it can
be inferred that majority are employed for food preparation and distribution work.
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III. Satisfaction level of the Inmates:

INTERPRETATION:

From the table and chart it can be seen that the majority of the inmates are satisfied with their
stay at the old age home. It is seen that 89% of the inmates are satisfied with the services and
facilities that they get from the old age homes. 11% of the inmates are found to be unsatisfied
with their stay at the old age homes. Hence it can be inferred that majority of the inmates are
satisfied with their stay at the old age homes.

2) Technology-integration in Old Age Homes in India-A Status Paper

Findings of the study paper:

 There are three types of Old Age Homes based on the paying capacity of their potential
and existing users. These include Homes that provide shelter/services and activities free
of cost or with very low charges not exceeding Rs. 500/- per month; that provide shelter,
services and activities against payment of modest/medium monthly charges not exceeding
Rs. 5,000/- per month; and that provide shelter, services and activities on an
ownership/lease basis with recurring maintenance costs usually exceeding Rs. 5,000/- per
month with both refundable and non-refundable deposits.

 Technology has been utilized in the Old Age Homes as one of the innovating and quality-
enhancing elements in providing improved standards of services and care to the residents
of Old Age Homes.
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 The Old Age Homes identified for the study have been described in terms of parameters
that include Physical environment, Living conditions for the residents including the unit
of residence – single, shared, or dormitory type, Common facilities, Services provided,
Fees and deposits charged, Administration and management, and Use of Assistive
Technologies and barrier-free features.

 The identified institutions were visited to identify the elements and extent of technology-
integration at the level of four constituents - Living environment, Facilities, Services, and
Organization and management. Technology integration was assessed in terms of their
location, infrastructure available in the form of facilities constructed or acquired, services
provided to the residents

Classificatory Variables:
AGE: Age is a deciding factor as the needs and requirements of different age
groups are different. The older residents have different expectations and
demands from the old-age home. On the basis of age respondents can be
classified as:
 60-80
 80 and above

GENDER:
Gender is as important as the other factors because the facilities and other services
required are not same for both the genders. Facilities like and indoor recreation, outdoor
recreation will be different for both the genders. Other facilities like medical health, safety
& security will be different for both the genders.

Survey Technique:
The survey technique proposed here in this case is personal in- home interviews. The amount
of information and flexibility required in our project is high. So we will prefer home
interview technique over other available techniques. In this technique respondents are
interviewed face-to-face in their homes. The interviewer’s task is to contact the respondents,
ask the questions and record the responses. Structured questionnaire is proposed to be used.
Interview will be conducted at the old-age-home.
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 Flexibility of Data Collection: The personal interview allows the highest flexibility
of data collection as it is desirable in our case. Because the respondent and the interviewer
meet face-to-face, the interviewer can administer complex questionnaires, explain and
clarify difficult questions and even utilize unstructured techniques. In our case as the
respondents are interviewed face-to-face, any difficult question can be easily clarified by
the interviewer.

 Diversity of Questions: The diversity of questions in our case is high as we want to

know everything from facilities and services provided by the old-age to the attitudes and
opinions of respondents towards these facilities and if there is any scope for
improvement. A wide variety of questions can be asked in home interviews because
respondent can see the questionnaire and an interviewer is present to clarify ambiguities.

 Quantity of Data: In-home personal interviews allow the researcher to collect large
amount of data. The social relationship between the interviewer and the respondent, as
well as the home environment, motivates the respondent to spend more time with the
interviewer.

 Response rate: Survey response rate is defined as the percentage of the total
attempted interviews that are completed. Home interviews yield the highest response
rate.

Definition of respondents:-
The respondents must be the residents of the old-age home.
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Introductory Sentence:-

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening Sir/Madam,

We, the students of Symbiosis Institute of International Business, Pune are studying ‘Applied
Market Research’ in our MBA course. As a part of the Market Research course project, we
are conducting a survey at this old-age-home which is managed by an NGO. This survey is
regarding opinions and attitudes of the residents of the old-age-home towards the facilities
provided and also the NGO.
We would request you to kindly spare fifteen minutes with us to answer our few questions.
This survey will help the management to improve the quality and standard of the facilities
provided at the old-age-home.

Questionnaire:

Kindly answer in the space provided or check the boxes wherever applicable.

Q 1.What is your name?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(This is just an ice-breaking question in order to make respondent feel comfortable to the
following questions.)

Q 2. Gender

 Male
 Female

(Reason: - The facilities, services and nature of activities for males and females may not be
the same)

Q 3. Age Group

 60-80 years
 80 and above years

(Reason: - This question is important because the facilities like medical health and other
services required are different for different age groups.)
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Q 4. Do you feel comfortable at the old-age-home?

 Highly agree
 Moderately agree
 Neither agree nor disagree
 Moderately disagree
 Highly disagree

Q 5.Do you get continuous power supply?

 Yes
 No

Q 6. How do you find the quality of food provided?

 Very Good
 Good
 Neither good nor bad
 Bad
 Very bad
{This question will focus on the quality of food provided}

Q 7.Is there variety in the food provisions?

 Yes
 No

Q 8.Is there a doctor available round the clock?

 Yes
 No
(This will give us an idea about the medical services provided by the old-age home to the
respondents)

Q 9.Are the required medicines available at the old age home?

 Yes
 No
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Q 10.Is there an attendant or nurse available on requirement?

 Yes
 No

Q 11.Are there enough indoor recreational facilities provided?

 Yes
 No

{This question will give an overall idea regarding the attitude of the respondent towards the
indoor recreational facilities}

Q 12.Are there enough outdoor recreational facilities provided?

 Yes
 No

{This question will give an overall idea regarding the attitude of the respondent towards the
outdoor recreational facilities}

Q 13.Which other recreational facilities would you like to have?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

{This is an open ended question to know what recreational facilities the residents will like to
have at the old-age-home}

Q 14.Do you think enough personal security is provided?

 Yes
 No

(This question is very important as it will give us an overall idea about the personal
security of the respondent provided by the old-age home)
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Q 15.Is there safe drinking water available?

 Yes
 No

Q 16.Do you get continuous water supply?

 Yes
 No

Q 17.How is your overall experience at the old age home?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

{This question will give an overview of the experience of the respondent regarding his/her
stay at the old age home}

Thank You for spending your valuable time with us for the survey.
Let your blessings be with us all the time.
Thanking you!