“Bai Lod” holistic health experienced by homebound older people in the southern Thai community

Abstract

Objectives: This qualitative descriptive study aims to explore the meanings of holistic health in the southern Thai culture experienced by homebound older people. Background:The ageing society necessitates many services to meet the holistic needs of older people. Homebound older people are commonly an understudied population who may view their holistic health and well-being differently from others. Due to geographical differences and local Thai cultural context, exploring the holistic health in the southern Thai culture would help promote a healthy lifestyle and improve their health outcomes.Methods: Based on purposeful sampling, 16 key informants who were homebound older people (ages ≥ 60 years old) living at home in a rural southern Thai community were participated in semi-structured interviews. Informants consisted of six males and ten females who were Buddhist and married. Their ages ranged from 79 to 99, including nine homebound older people who lived in a couple, and seven widows and widowers. Eight had completed the primary school, and others were uneducated. The data were analysed with a content analysis.Results: Most of the informants had chronic diseases. In a broad main theme, the informants described the holistic health in local context as 'Bai Lod; which means being alive with positive, active and independent functioning. This theme included three sub-themes: self-supporting or taking care of themselves, having the ability to control their health conditions and being proud as a healthy older adult. The older people described self-supporting as the ability to perform their activities of daily living, take care of their own health and work independently (active living). Having the ability to control their health conditions meant functioning well physically, although being frail, by maintaining their health through self-management, and having a good mental health during such a life-changing situation. Older people valued the ability to live by themselves without being a burden to their family. They felt happy with their life. Conclusion:Holistic health was described as being positive and active at home, and influenced by beliefs and values related to good physical function, mental health and spiritual activities. These findings could help healthcare professionals better understand older people' health, well-being and cultural care in order to develop alternative How to cite this article: Detthippornpong S, Songwathana P, Bourbonnais A. "Bai Lod" holistic health experienced by homebound older people in the southern Thai community. Int J

Holistic Health Practices of Rural Thai Homebound Older Adults: A Focused Ethnographic Study

“…Holistic health, Bai Lod , of HOAs defined as being alive with positive, active, and independent mental, physical, and spiritual functioning (Detthippornpong et al, 2020), guided their daily health practices. Most HOAs with a chronic illness took medication prescribed by a local physician in addition to following traditional health practices learned from the previous generation.…”

“…The study had three research questions. Results for two of those questions about the meanings of holistic health for HOAs and the factors that influence those meanings have been published elsewhere (Detthippornpong et al, 2020). This paper focuses on the third question of how HOAs take action to maintain holistic health in their daily life.…”

“…In a previous study with rural Thai HOAs, the concept of holistic health was defined as total health or Bai Lod and was described by participants as being alive with positive, active, and independent mental, physical, and spiritual functioning despite physical limitations or chronic diseases (Detthippornpong et al, 2020). HOAs have different lifestyles, beliefs, values, and sociocultural backgrounds than their younger family members that influence achieving or maintaining “ Bai Lod .” According to the WHO (2020), cultural background, language, religious beliefs, and cognition impact the daily health practices of older adults.…”

“…Historically, most of the early settlers from this community migrated from other provinces and settled down in this area surrounded by farmland, rubber trees, and several types of fruit trees. In addition, most people in this region believe it is vital to eat healthy food and to live in a natural environment to promote their health and to extend their longevity (Detthippornpong et al, 2020).…”