Published Paper Details:

The demographic profile of the most nations points to an increase in the population of the elderly. The nutrient requirement of the elderly and the concern for the health and nutrition of the elderly are far different from any other population group. So the investigator felt a need to conduct the study to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching Programme on knowledge of significant family member regarding special nutritional needs of the elderly. The objective of the study: To assess the knowledge of the significant family member on special nutritional needs of elderly. To evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching Programme on knowledge of the significant family member regarding special nutritional needs of the elderly. To associate the pretest knowledge with selected demographic variables. Methods: Pre-Experimental design with one group pretest and posttests design was adopted. 60 samples were selected by using non-probability purposive sampling technique. A structured questionnaire schedule was prepared and used to collect the data and to assess the level of the knowledge of the significant family member regarding special nutritional needs of the elderly. The tool consisted of demographic data and 30-structured knowledge questionnaire. The content validity was obtained from experts and the reliability was obtained by test re test method. Feasibility of the study was confirmed by pilot study. The data obtained was analyzed and interpreted in terms of the objectives and hypothesis of the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results: The present study found that in pre-test, out of 60 subjects' majority of them 58(96.7%) had inadequate knowledge, 2 (3.3%) of them had moderate knowledge and none of them had adequate knowledge and in post-test, majority of them 37(61.7%) had adequate knowledge, 23(38.3%) had moderate knowledge and none of them had inadequate knowledge. There is statistically significant association found between two demographic variables and the pre-test level of knowledge of the significant family member of the elderly on nutritional needs of the elderly. The variable age showed significance at P <0.05 level, and the variable education showed significance at P<0.05.Interpretation&Conclusion: Analysis of data shows that 61.7% had adequate knowledge,38.3% had moderate knowledge and 0% had inadequate knowledge.