Abstract

The main aim of this study was to investigate the attitude of youth towards older adults and ascertain their perception about the quality of life of older adults. 200 youth, both male and female aged between 17-25 years from Mumbai; staying with older adults on a permanent or occasional basis and who were not staying with older adults were purposely selected. Kogan’s attitude scale towards older adults representing responses from “Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree” was used. A checklist was used to find out the quality of life of the older adults in homes, their involvement in house-hold activities, family decisions, conflicts and type of treatment received. In totality, majority of the youths had a ‘negative attitude’ towards older adults (more so the females and the younger group). However, young adults who were staying with older adults on a permanent or occasional basis had a ‘positive attitude’ towards older adults. Youths perceived that older adults ‘willingly’ involved themselves in ‘house-hold activities’, were involved in ‘family decision making’ only ‘sometimes’ and ‘conflicts’ also happened in the family because of them ‘sometimes’. They were well treated in the family and need for designing intervention was felt by majority of the youths.