THE DYNAMIC EFFECTS OF HEALTH ON THE PHYSICAL LABOR OF LOWER CLASS OLDER PEOPLE: AN EXPLORATORY SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE STUDY ON MAHESHPUR UPAZILA IN BANGLADESH

Aging is a natural, multidimensional process and inevitable consequence of human life. Old age is also the closing period of life. So, aging is an emerging issue. There is a growing concern in the world, especially in developing countries. This study has focused on uncovering the dynamic effect of health on the physical labor of lower-class older people and to gather some information about their perceived health needs using the information over Maheshpur Upazila under Jhenaidah district. This research has prepared both based on primary and secondary data sources. All physical labor of lower-class older people who live in Maheshpur Upazila is considered as population. So in this study 170 older people have been taken under purposive sampling. The primary data collected through field observation, focus group discussion (FGD), and questionnaire survey. The secondary data obtained from different published and unpublished sources including books, journals, newspapers, magazines, NGO documents, annual reports and websites of institutions, etc. The exploratory analysis shows that about 92 percent of the older population suffered from health problems. Almost everyone suffered from at least one disease during three months before the survey. The exploratory analysis also reveals that 68.82% respondents are illiterate and 87.06 percent of older people have no cultivated the land. For this reason, they engaged in lower-level work and faced challenging circumstances as they attempt to meet their basic needs.