Unmet Needs and Coping Mechanisms Among Community-Dwelling Senior Citizens in the Philippines: A Qualitative Study

The Philippine government is facing a burden of improving health and social services for both the growing elderly and young population. The extent of discussion on aging issues and concerns, however, is minimal at best. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the perceptions of unmet needs and to explore the coping mechanisms of senior citizens across local stakeholders in an urban area in the Philippines. In this qualitative study, we collected data using focus group discussions among senior citizens (n = 4) and health providers (n = 4) as well as in-depth interviews among local administrators (n = 7). We analyzed the data through thematic analysis using the social determinants of health as the theoretical framework. We used qualitative research software NVivo10 (R) to track the coding and manage the data. Four major themes related to unmet needs emerged in the analyses: (1) financial security, (2) health care services, (3) age-friendly environment, and (4) family support. Senior citizens responded either positively or negatively to cope with the challenges associated with aging. The government must then revisit existing national policies to address their unmet needs. Actions should be taken to strengthen positive coping and modifying the negative coping mechanisms, with a particular focus on community and family interventions.