Knowledge of Health Professionals as Correlates of Care of Elderly in Nupeland, Nigeria

The study investigated knowledge of health professionals as correlates of care of elderly in Nupeland. The descriptive research design of the survey type was used in this study. The population consisted of all health professionals and elderly people in Nupeland in Kwara, Kogi and Niger States. The sample size for this study consisted of 300 health professionals and 600 elderly people from Nupe tribe in Nupeland in Kwara, Kogi and Niger States. The sample was selected using multi stage sampling procedure. Knowledge of Care of the Elderly Questionnaire (KCEQ) and Care Received by Elderly People Questionnaire (CREPQ) were used to collect data for the study. The validity of the instruments was ensured through face, content and construct validity. The internal consistency of the items yielded a co-efficient value of 0.82 and 0.73 for KCEQ and CREPQ respectively. The data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that health professionals have high knowledge of the care of elderly in Nupeland. It was further revealed that there was no significant difference in the knowledge of health professionals about care of the elderly based on their educational status, religion and gender. It was recommended that healthcare professionals should continually update their knowledge on care of the elderly.

Keywords: Knowledge, Health Professionals, Care, Elderly,