Determining the Status of Different Dimensions of NAJA Retirees' Health and Promoting these Dimensions

Given the projected exponential growth in the elderly population in Iran and the world in the future, finding solutions for elderly problems should be one of the health care systems’ priorities. This study aimed to evaluate and promote the geriatric health of the retired NAJA staff in the future.

This is an applied study, in terms of purpose, and a mixed exploratory study, in terms of data. The implementation method used includes interviews and a cross-sectional survey study. The study tools included a questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale (after evaluating validity and reliability) for quantitative analysis and unstructured in-depth interviews for qualitative analysis. 383 NAJA retirees who went to the clinics of Valiasr Hospital and the NAJA Retirees Center in Tehran, Iran, between July 23, 2019, and February 20, 2020, completed the questionnaires and got interviewed.

The quantitative analysis showed that all aspects of the retirees’ health were favorable except for economic and social health (p<0.05). Physical aspects of health problems mentioned by retirees mainly included the costs of heart diseases (35%), hypertension (15%), diabetes (13%), and ocular diseases (13%). Emotional health problems consisted of concerns about the future of the family (63%) and lack of spiritual support (34%). For the economic aspect of health, retirees expressed problems with daily expenses, and for the social aspect of health, they referred to few social welfare facilities (40%), as well as their costs (50%). Other problems included the need for jobs (10%) and financial support (90%) in the motivational health dimension and also cognitive problems.

Our study showed that the economic and social aspects of the retirees’ health are in poor condition and other aspects of their health are in good condition. Promoting economic health will also help promote health in other areas.