Background: Population ageing is a great concern for the health sector. The health-seeking behaviour of elderly individuals can help in ascertaining their needs and priorities to develop appropriate policies for their care and avert disease progression. Objective was to assess health seeking behaviour of the elderly residing in rural Puducherry.Methods: A community based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among the geriatric population residing in selected areas of rural Puducherry. Interviews using semi-structured pretested proforma were conducted for capturing information on health seeking behaviour.Results: Out of the total study participants, 403 (64.8%) were suffering from chronic illness. Around 81.1% of them were seeking treatment. Majority of the elders (97.9%) preferred Allopathy system for their chronic illness.Conclusions: Awareness among the elderly population is imperative and can be done by regular medical check-ups by ensuring early detection of the chronic diseases and curtail complications.

Introduction: COVID-19 has ensured that countries enforced complete lock down to prevent the spread of infection. Despite millions of people working from home during this pandemic situation, police personnel 'the front line workers' who deal with the general population to ensure their safety and wellbeing are at risk of stress and other mental health problems in addition to the risk of infection itself. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the perception of police personnel towards the disease, factors influencing stress and coping abilities of them amid COVID-19. Methods: A cross-sectional qualitative study was conducted using in-depth interviews among randomly selected police personnel working in COVID-19 situation across the district of Karaikal, Puducherry. Results: Of the 32 police personnel, majority were of age group 36-45 (43.75%), followed by 25-35 (37.5%). More than half of them were married (78.12%). Around 62.5% had been in the present occupation for more than 5 years. The in depth interviews were group under 5 themes namely perception, practice they follow amid COVID-19, stress they go through, challenges faced, coping strategies used by them. Conclusion: It is the need of the hour to care for the well-being of frontline workers, especially police personals.

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Background: Ageing leads to lower effectiveness of physiological functions accompanied by increase in risk factors for various diseases and on the other hand, the burden of their health problems in on rise. Understanding the morbidity pattern and social determinants of the elderly pave a way to plan and supplement health programs that are need based and locally acceptable. Objective was to assess the socio-demographic determinants and the morbidity pattern among geriatric population of rural Puducherry.Methods: A community based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among the geriatric population residing in selected areas of rural Puducherry. Interviews using semi-structured pretested proforma were conducted for capturing information on socio-demographic variables and morbidity patterns.Results: Around 71.69% receive social assistance in any form. The most common morbidities present among the study participants were arthritis (31.35%), hypertension (22.66%) and diabetes mellitus (16.59%).Conclusions: There are considerable health problems due to old age among elderly, so regular screening required early in life for ensuring healthy ageing.