Assessment of Educational Needs of Elderly People in Sirjan about Healthy Lifestyle, 2018-2019

Elderly people need a particular way of life in order to have a good life. They need training to become aware of and follow this particular style. Needs assessment and understanding of the current situation is necessary to provide appropriate training.  Needs assessment causes proper planning, saving time and money. Therefore, in this study, we surveyed the educational needs of the elderly about healthy lifestyle in old age.

This was a descriptive cross-sectional study that was performed on elderly people in Sirjan in 2018-2019. The sample size was 361 people that was selected based on Morgan table and multistage stratified sampling method. The data was collected on the basis of a questionnaire called "Living in the Iranian Faith" with 46 questions and Cronbach's alpha of 0.77 Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 24 and using ANOVA and Student-t statistics.

The overall mean score of healthy elderly lifestyle was 131± 14.00 Therefore; the life style of the elderly in Sirjan was moderate. 293people (%95)were in the average level of life style; in the areas of lifestyle, mean score and standard deviation47±4.00, in the areas of sport, recreation and physical activity with mean score and standard deviation13 ± 13.01, in the areas of  Healthy Nutrition Area with Average Score and SD 31 ± 4.00 in the areas of Stress Management Score with Average Score and SD13± 3.00 , in the areas of  Social and Interpersonal Relations With the mean score and standard deviation 24±5.00,  Elderly people ‘s needs were in the average level.Another result of this study was that there is a relationship between the different educational needs of older people in the field of lifestyle with demographic factors such as gender, age, literacy level as well as the status of being or not having chronic illnesses and living alone or with a partner.

Elderly people in Sirjan’s Elderly people are in  moderately situation  in terms of healthy lifestyles and their domains. It is  necessary to pursue more healthy lifestyle education based on their needs and taking into account demographic characteristics..