The Relationship Between Social Capital and Social Support with the Level of Indicators of the Quality of Life of the Inactive Elderly

Intoduction: 

The growing trend of the aging phenomenon suggests the need to pay attention to the activities of the elderly and examine the factors affecting them as an effective factor in improving the health of the elderly. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between capital and social support with the quality of life of inactive elderly.

This descriptive correlation study was conducted on 200 inactive elderly people of the elderly center of Lahijan city in 1401. The samples were selected according to available methods. The data collection tools included the demographic profile form and Onyx and Bolen (2000) social capital questionnaires, Zammit et al. (1988) social support and Lipad (1998) quality of life questionnaires were used. The data were analyzed using K-S tests, Spearman's correlation and multivariate regression by SPSS23 software.

According to the results, the average age of the research units was 66.94±8.22 years, and the overall score of social capital was 3.04±0.75, the overall score of social support was 3.07±1.13, and the overall score of quality of life 2.17±0.56 was obtained. The statistical results showed that there was a correlation coefficient (0.29 and 0.42) between capital and social support and quality of life, respectively, which shows that there is a significant relationship (P=0.001).

 It is concluded that capital and social support is an important and effective factor in maintaining and promoting physical and cognitive health related to participation in the life affairs of the elderly. It seems that social support as a component affecting the physical and mental health of the elderly can be considered as a social capital in improving the dynamics and quality of life of the elderly.