Quality of life among older people in Sweden receiving help from informal and/or formal helpers at home or in special accommodation

Abstract

The present study describes and compares quality of life (QoL) and factors which predict QoL among people aged 75 years and over who receive help with activities of daily living (ADLs) from formal and/or informal helpers. The subjects were living at home or in special accommodation in Sweden. A postal questionnaire was sent to a randomly selected and age-stratified sample of 8500 people. The response rate was 52.8% (n = 4337), and 1247 people [mean age (+/- SD) = 86.4 +/- 5.9 years] received help and indicated who helped them with ADLs. The findings suggest that a greater age, being a woman, being a widow/widower, a higher number of health-related complaints, needing more help with ADLs and a lower QoL were found among those receiving help in special accommodation in comparison with those receiving help at home. The extent of help was highest among those receiving help in special accommodation. Having help with ADLs every day at home indicated having help from both informal and formal helpers, while respondents receiving help from only informal or only formal helpers received the smallest amount of help with ADLs. A need for greater help with ADLs, and a higher number of self-reported diseases and complaints determined low QoL, whilst a social network (contact with more than three people) and a greater age determined high QoL. However, who the helpers were did not have a significant influence on QoL; it was the extent of help with ADLs that influenced QoL negatively and the density of the social network that influenced QoL positively.

Social networks and quality of life of elderly persons: a review and critical analysis of literature

“…The samples that have been employed tend to be made up of more than 30 individuals, while more than half of the studies analyzed in this review 7,25,26,29,30,37,38,42 made use of representative samples. Thus, probabilistic selection of the elements to be studied within a determined temporal and geographical context was preferred.…”

“…In summary, much of the literature indicates that larger networks are associated with greater well-being among the elderly population 21,23,[28][29][30] . It should be noted that, in general, the social networks of the elderly are small, and this may be associated with a low quality of life/well-being among these individuals.…”

“…The size of social networks has been, in general, positively associated with QOL/well-being 21,23,[28][29][30] , both in European countries and in North America. However, some investigations carried out in European countries show that there is no association between the size of the social network and QOL 31,32 .…”

Feeling hindered by health problems and functional capacity at 60 years and above

“…It is also well known that limited ability to perform activities of daily living also means decreased life satisfaction. For instance, Hellström et al (2004) found among 448 Swedish people aged 75 and over with reduced ADL capacity that reporting several diseases and functional impairment determined low life satisfaction. Among people aged 65 and above (n = 1000) in Australia reporting themselves as being limited in the ability to perform instrumental activities of daily living, functional impairment was shown to mediate the relationship between diseases and well-being (Kendig et al, 2000).…”

Evaluation of life satisfaction and functional fitness of people over 60 years of age living in a nursing home and home environment

“…on the self-esteem of the subjects, which in turn lowered their general evaluation of quality of life [22]. in the international research conducted by Mozhan et al in 23 countries, in the opinion of 7401 elderly subjects, the key factors impacting evaluation of life quality included: ability to perform daily activities, good health, sensory fitness, mobility, freedom/independence, energy [23].…”