The relation between the self care strength and life satisfaction of the elderly living in nursing home

Abstract

Objectives: This research has been made to examine the relation between the self care strength and the life satisfaction of the elderly living in the nursing home and factors that affect. Material and methods: Descriptive and cross-sectional type of this study was performed in nursing home in Samsun between December 2007-0ctaber 2008. The sample consist of 56 elderly. The data were collected by Self Care Agency Scale (SCAS) and The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). SCAS minimum score is 35 and maximum is 140. If the SWLS index is less than 7, it means it is low but, if it is more than 13 this means it is high SWLS in fact. For evaluation, t test, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskall Wallis analysis were performed. Results: It was found that SCAS form of the elderly the mean score was 86.4 ±18.8. SWLS form the mean score was 20.3 ± 5.9. _t can be said that they are higher than mean level. Self-care strength is high those graduated from high school and in individual who are between the rest not problem and to be satisfaction of living in the nursing home. Life Satisfaction was found to be high those the rest not problem and who do not depend on anybody else while doing their daily activity. Conclusion: There is a strong positive relationship between the self-care strength of the elderly individual and their life satisfaction.