Turkish Journal of
GERIATRICS

Ege University School of Nursing, Department of Public Health Nursing, Bornova, Ä°ZMÄ°R /TURKEY This is a field study designed to investigate the effect of living in a nursing home or a family setting on the life satisfaction of elderly individuals. This research was carried out through a sample of a total of 240 elderly individuals who were selected among senior citizens residing in 3 nursing homes within the city of Izmir and in the districts of 3 community clinics which are affiliated with Presidency of Training and Research Health Group of Bornova (Izmir, Turkey) between the dates of January 2001 ‘ May 2001. The research was supported by Agean University Research Fund. Data were collected by the interview technique using a Socio-Demographic Data Form and a Life Satisfaction Scale. For the whole sampling group mean life satisfaction scores of women was 10.33 ± 3.50 and of men was 10.69 ± 3.16. The difference between mean life satisfaction scores of men and women living in nursing homes was found statistically insignificant (t = 0.510, p > 0,05). But, the difference between mean life satisfaction scores of men and women living in family environments was found statistically significant (t = 2.128, p < 0.05). It was determined that men and women living in family environment had higher life satisfaction compared to those living in nursing homes (t = -7.526, p < 0.01). In this case, it was concluded that continuation of elderly individuals living in family environment should be encouraged and priority should be given to the those organizations, such as ‘Care at home’ and ‘Daytime care homes’ for the services to be delivered to the elderly. Keywords : Nursing homes, Family environment, Life satisfaction, Elderly