Study of the Relationship of Emotional Support and Quality of Life of the Elderly in Shahr-e-Kord

Emotional support is a social network which provides individuals with noticeable psychological resources, so that they can deal with daily problems and stressful events of life. The aim of this study is to determine the mean score of the relationship of social support (emotional aspect) and quality of life of the elderly. This descriptive study was conducted in 2011. The statistical population was consisted of 356 individuals of the elderly people of Shahr-e-Kord. Participants were assessed by Norbeck Social Support questionnaire and Lipad Elderly quality of life questionnaire. Five demographic questions, 29 quality of life questions, and 7 social support questions were used in this study. Some questions were scored by ("very good", "good", "bad", and "very bad"), ("easily", "with difficulty", "only with help", and "cannot do it"), ("never", "rarely", "often", and "always"), ("yes", "I totally can", "I mostly can", "I sometimes can", and "I cannot"), ("almost always", "often", "rarely", and "never"), ("very satisfied", "satisfied", "unsatisfied", "very unsatisfied"), and others were scored by ("very rarely", "rarely", "often", and "always") options. Depending on the question type, each question was scored 1-5. The questionnaires were distributed and reviewed considering moral considerations and confidentiality of the answers. Finally, the data were managed by SPSS system and analyzed by descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation test. The results showed that, in comparison with elderly men, elderly women had lower quality of life and emotional support. Furthermore, Pearson correlation test showed that there is a significant relationship between social support and quality of life of the elderly (r=0.54, P=0.05). According to the significant relationship between emotional social support and quality of life, it seems that paying attention to the role of social support in improving quality of life of the elderly may lead to beneficial results. Therefore, social supports, and emotional support in particular, are inexpensive resources that may lead to health promotion and, consequently, improvement of quality of life of the elderly; so, it's necessary that the planners prepare the circumstances in a way that the elderly can benefit from these supports.