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ABSTRACT
The prevalence of disability in activities of daily livings is higher among Indian elderly as compared to other ageing countries in Asia. This study provides an overview of the prevalence of disability by gender and region (rural and urban) among the tribal elderly in West Bengal, India. Cross-tabulation method was employed to examine the pattern of tribal ageing disability in all 19 districts of West Bengal. Based on Census 2011 data, the study showed that prevalence of disability among tribal elderly was significantly higher than general elderly population. The study also validated the low socio-economic and vulnerable condition of the ethnic groups in different districts of the State. The governments should implement the public health policies to reduce the burden of disability by providing healthcare services, education and social and economic security particularly to the rural tribal elderly disabled people for their better quality of life.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
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Notes on contributors
Selim Jahangir
Selim Jahangir is a doctoral graduate from the Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. His doctoral works focused on gender, ageing and care of older adults. His research interests are in the varied fields of social geography and social gerontology in qualitative methods. He has published some research papers in international journals as well as in edited volume published from Springer. Currently, he is working as a postdoctoral fellow at International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, India.
Dinabandhu Mahata
Dinabandhu Mahata has completed his Master of Population Studies (MPS) and M.Phil at the Department of Development Studies in International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India. He mainly works in various geographical issues including urban ethnicity and tribal health. He also works in the field of population and development in India. Besides, he is interested in the issues of political conflict, ethnicity and development in various geographical parts of India.
Postal address: Dinabandhu Mahata, Research Officer, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, India