Guidelines for taking care of health care and improving the quality of life for the elderly with herbs in Boon Rueang Sub-district, Chiang Khong District, Chiang Rai

Abstract

This article aims to develop a guideline for taking care of health care and improving the quality of life for the elderly with herbs in Boon Rueang sub-district, Chiang Khong District, Chiang Rai. The sample group was the Mayor of Boon Ruang sub-district, Thai traditional medicine teachers, and the elderly in Boon Rueang sub-district who are interested in planting and using herbs for health care. The interview with the mayor was used to study the area's potential and focus group with Thai traditional medicine teachers to develop guidelines for health care and quality of life of the elderly with herbs. Then implement the guidelines and follow up.

              The study results revealed that Boon Rueang sub-district has the potential of local resources with community forests and wet forests that herbs can be used for the health care of the elderly. An organic farming group has an area suitable for growing herbs. There is a municipality in Boon Rueang sub-district that has the potential to take care of and develop the quality of life of the elderly. The guideline for taking care of health care and improving the quality of life for the elderly with herbs is that the municipality has cooperated with educational institutions in Thai traditional medicine and a network of people. There are activities to promote the planting and use of herbs for self-care and income for the elderly. The elders brought herbs from the forest to grow in their area. It can be used as a product for health care, and the remaining can be sold to increase income for the elderly. The follow-up activities found that the elderly had more knowledge of herbs to take care of their health and had an average income of 970 baht/month from the sale of herbs.

Keywords: Herb; Elderly; Health