Jaya, S2017-02-232017-02-232011https://ir.avinuty.ac.in/handle/avu/1759Ageing i.s a complex phenomenon accompanied by physiological, psychological and sound changes which often results in a decline in health statits (Hemalatha, 1999). Ageing is a continuous process that begins with conception and ends with death. Ageing is not a disease but a biological process fHenry, 2000). Ageing is a gradual developmental process of biological, psychological, sociological and behavioural change that begins at the moment when an individual is born (Chandrasekhar and Rhooma, 1999). .Ageing refers to the normal piugtessive and irreversible biological changes occurring in an individual's life span (Natarajan. 1998). In spite o f all efforts taken by the government and other agencies, the feeling o f neglect and the condition o f being abandoned are indeed leading to stress in the elderly population. This study was canned out using a sample of 307 elderly from old age homes and. free living elderly from selected areas o f Ernakulam district of Kerala. The tool used for the study consisted o f a questionnaire prepared by the investigator and a standardized stress inventory. The study revealed that institutionalized elderly experienced high levels of stress in total than the free living elderly.