Beyond The Shadows: Socioeconomic And Health Perspectives Of Elderly Women In Urban Slums In Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Region, Ahmedabad (Gujarat)

Abstract

A slum household is defined as a group of individuals living under the same roof in an urban area who lack one or more of the following: durable housing, sufficient living space, access to safe water, access to sanitation facilities, and secure tenure (UN-Habitat). These areas are typically marked by the absence of adequate infrastructure, limited access to basic services, and informal or insecure land tenure. The objective was to know the health status of elderly women in slum areas of Ahmedabad. A cross-sectional study was done in the slum areas. It was noticed that the maximum number of elderly women were suffering from arthritis disease. Almost, 79% of elderly women preferred allopathy medicines and only 2% of respondents preferred homeopathy. In outline, a significant number of respondents expressed feelings of isolation or neglect in their home environments and their health status was observed very poor.