Mechanism to Drive the Elderly Clubs to Promote Statuses and Roles of the Elderly

Abstract

The research on “Mechanism to drive the Elderly Clubs to Promote Statuses and Roles of the Elderly” Study about the management of the elderly club, which the findings from the research point out that it is mostly done by a committee; they have regulations and rules for their clubs and hold committee/board meeting every month, and earn incomes from membership fee/admission fee. Most activities are general ones such as religious activities and lectures from speakers rather than developmental activities. As for the support and promotion of the status of the elderly, there are 3 main activities, as follows. 1) Concerning the activities to promote health and happiness, 2) Concerning activities to encourage the elder to have societal participation 3) Concerning activities to promote security in the elderly’s lives. As for the mechanisms for coordination among Senior Citizens Council of Thailand (SCCT), branches of SCCT and the elder clubs, it is discovered that such mechanisms, according to the visions of the organizations, should be a network; however, in reality, SCCT has the coordination in the forms of command and control along the chain of command. Therefore, the mechanisms for coordination cannot drive the development of the elder clubs in the efficient or effective manner.