Satisfaction with the lives of elderly nursing homes residents

Abstract

Introduction. Ageing of societies is a process apparent in nearly all countries worldwide. Many families will not be able to provide care services for the elderly, the burden of care will fall mainly on public and private institutions. This puts employees of nursing homes in front of numerous challenges in order to provide seniors with improvement of their life satisfaction. Aim. The purpose of the study was to assess the life satisfaction of elderly nursing home residents in the Mazovian region and to demonstrate variables that affect it. Material and methods.. The research was carried out in 2018 among the 250 elderly nursing home residents from Mazovia. During the test, a diagnostic survey method and a questionnaire technique were used. The research tool was the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), Katz's Activities of Daily Living Scale, Hodgkinson's Abbreviated Mental Test Score, Basic Hope Inventory (BHI-12), Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS), and the authors' survey questionnaire. Results. Among the respondents, the dominant group included people with low life satisfaction (42.8%). A statistically significant relationship was found between life satisfaction and the age of the respondents and selected psychometric scales. There was no such correlation for the level of mobility, duration of stay at the nursing home and the size of the inhabited facility. Conclusions. Elderly people living in nursing homes from Mazovia enjoy life satisfaction at a low and average level. The results distinguish three groups of residents exhibiting a lower satisfaction with life, namely, new arrivals, the oldest, and suffering from a minimum of one illness. Nursing home personnel who deal with patients on an everyday basis should aim to improve their life satisfaction.