THE ROLE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT AS A MEDIATING VARIABLE IN DETERMINING NURSING HOME UTILIZATION AMONG THE FRAIL ELDERLY.
Contributors: University of Kansas.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 218
Subjects: Social Work.
Description: The purpose of this study was to test a model of nursing home utilization. The model hypothesizes that social resources and social support mediated the effects of mental status and functional status. The role of age, gender, psychological status and the quality of the physical environment were also examined. Social resources included the presence of a live-in partner and the number of helpers available to provide assistance in personal care. Social support referred to the individual's perception of the adequacy of the care they receive. The subjects include all individuals who met the following criteria: were sixty years of age or older at the time of the assessment; were assessed in their own home; met financial and disability requirements for Medicaid nursing home benefits; received home care and/or nursing home services. Subjects included in this study were assessed in 1983 through 1984. Outcome data was available for 131 subjects. Complete data were available for 98 subjects (93 subjects for the test involving the physical environment.) The data were analyzed using five separate path analysis models. LISREL was used to examine each hypothesis. The results supported the hypothesis that social resources and social support mediate the effect of functional status and, to a lesser extent, mental status. The analysis also supports the hypothesis that age, gender, psychological status and the quality of the physical environment do not have a direct effect on nursing home utilization. Any effect these variables have on nursing home utilization is due to their correlation with mental and functional status. The implications of these results for future research or nursing home utilization and social work practice with the elderly were then examined.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-12, Section: A, page: 3199.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, 1987.

School code: 0099.