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

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). Sociodemographic 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 communitybased elderly care centers to provide caregiver training and temporary relief services to strengthen family-based elderly care in the study areas.