The Relationship among Powerlessness, Social Support and Life Satisfaction in the Elderly People

Park, Seong Hee; Lee, Ji Hyun

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify the correlation between the feeling of powerlessness, social support and life satisfaction in the elderly.
METHODS
The subjects were 158 old people aged over 65 who were attending one of one college and three settlement houses for senior citizens located in B city.
RESULTS
The relationship between the feeling of powerlessness and life satisfaction was in a moderate negative correlation with each other (r=-.433, p=.000). The relationship between social support and life satisfaction was in a moderate positive correlation with each other (r=.410, p=.000). It was found that the higher social support was, the higher life satisfaction was. There was remarkable difference in the form of family (F=2.69, p=.023), the form of residence (F=5.29, p=.002), whether to belong to a group (F=2.26, p=.025).
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, as the feeling of powerlessness is lower and social support is higher, life satisfaction is higher. The results clearly show that in order to improve life satisfaction of the elderly, we need to ease their feeling of powerlessness and enhance social support to them. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a nursing intervention program to reduce powerlessness and to improve social support for the elderly.