Life Satisfaction of Elderly in Families and Old Age Homes: A Comparative Study Vijayakumar Gishy1, Devi Elsa Sanatombi2, Jawahar Preethy3 1Msc (N), Department of Community Health Nursing, Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal University, Manipal 2HOD and Professor, Department of Community Health Nursing, Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal University, Manipal 3Associate Professor, Department of Community Health Nursing, Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal University, Manipal Online published on 15 January, 2016. Abstract Background Old age is one of the difficult stages of life, affecting overall wellbeing of elderly population. They indeed face financial, health related and other social issues which has negative impact on their life during this stage of life. Proper support, care and love from the beloved ones can help elderly overcome the difficulties of this stage of life., This study was undertaken to assess and compare the life satisfaction of the elderly living in families and old age homes. Objectives Assess and compare the life satisfaction among the elderly residing in families and old age home. Design Descriptive comparative design Settings The study was conducted in seven old age homes and in families in urban areas. Participants The population selected for the study is elderly people above the age of 60 years, A total of 102 elderly participated in the study 51 from families and other 51 from old age homes, participants were approached conveniently. Materials and Method Self administration of questionnaire technique were used to collect the data. Life Satisfaction Index for the third age (LISTA) tool was used, which was translated to local language and after establishing the reliability and validity the tool was administered to the participants. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to test the hypothesis. Independent ‘t ’test to compare the life satisfaction of the elderly living in families and old age homes. Results A total of 102 elderly were included in the study. About 33.3% of the elderly individuals living in old age homes are dissatisfied with life while it is about only 5.9% in those living in families. 90.2% and 62.7% of the elderly are satisfied with life among those living in families and old age home respectively. 03.9% in each group are very satisfied with their life. Conclusions The life satisfaction of elderly living in old age homes were severely affected than those living in families. This information can be utilized for providing interventional programmes for the elderly in the old age homes to maintain their autonomy and thus their individuality. What is already known about this topic? Old age is a phase of dependency, the elderly population is facing various challenges during this phase Quality of life decreases with increasing age What this paper adds? 1. The study outlines that the life satisfaction of elderly living in old age homes were severely affected than those living in families so certain strategies should be adopted for the institution living elderly to conserve the satisfaction with life. Top Keywords life satisfaction, elderly individuals, old age home, family. Top |