An assessment of the Thai government’s health services for the aged

In 1998, Thailand’s Health Systems Research Institute, a unit within the Ministry of Public Health, launched a comprehensive review of health services available to elderly people in Thailand. As part of this review, staff at Khon Kaen University gathered data on the provision of services by public facilities. Four methods of gathering data were used: (a) interviews with policy makers and implementors; (b) a survey of elderly people in the community; (c) exit interviews with patients at hospitals; and (d) observations in hospitals. This article summarizes results obtained through the latter three methods, A more detailed account of all four methods and the results can be found in the final report (Kamnuansilpa and others, 1999).