The relationship between health-related quality of life and contact with own children in cognitively intact nursing home residents

Close contact with social networks is important, but nursing home residents often experience difficulties in maintaining such contact. The main aims of this study were to examine cognitively intact nursing home residents and their health-related quality of life in relation to their level of desire for and frequency of social contact with their children, as well as to explore possible relationships between these. The study has a cross-sectional design. To collect data the researchers interviewed 227 cognitively intact nursing home residents, 65 years old and older, using the questionnaire Short Form-36 and Andersson's Social Network Contact Form. Increased desire for contact is significantly related to decreased mental health and role-emotional functioning. These relationships were independent of how often the cognitively intact nursing home residents had contact with their children. In addition, we found significant relationships between the frequencies of social network contacts and decreased physical health. The study suggests attention to the topic, and increased emphasis on socialization with their children for cognitively intact nursing home residents.