KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTION OF CAREGIVERS TOWARDS ELDERLY CARE IN FAMILY SETTINGS IN OYO STATE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AREA

Abstract

Elderly care remains a global public health challenge. While previous studies have emphasized 
the burden of caregiving, limited attention has been given to caregivers’ knowledge and 
perception of home-based elderly care. This study assessed caregivers’ knowledge and 
perception of Elderly Care in Family Settings (ECIFS) in Lagelu and Ibadan North East Local 
Government Areas of Oyo State, Nigeria. The Theory of Planned Behaviour guided the study, 
which adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design. A multistage sampling technique was used to 
select 303 respondent Data were collected using a validated, structured questionnaire and 
analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson chi-square, and mean scores. Results showed that 
the mean age of respondents was 36.8 ± 11.3 years. More than half of the respondents had good 
knowledge (173; 57.7%) and good perception (175; 58.3%) of ECIFS. A significant association 
was found between knowledge and perception (p = 0.002; df = 2, ?² = 12.55). Socio
demographic variables including age (p = 0.015), educational qualification (p = 0.035), marital 
status (p = 0.025), and residence (p = 0.013) were significantly associated with perception, 
whereas gender and occupation were not. Conversely, none of the socio-demographic 
characteristics showed a significant association with knowledge. Overall, findings indicate that 
while many caregivers demonstrated good knowledge and perception of ECIFS, gaps remain that 
could affect the quality of elderly care. The study recommends the establishment of community
based elderly care centers to provide caregiver training and temporary relief services to 
strengthen family-based elderly care in the study areas.