Premium
VISITORS TO NURSING HOMES: FEW OR MANY?
Author(s) -
Minichiello Victor
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
australian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 0726-4240
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.1987.tb00972.x
Subject(s) - nursing homes , marital status , nursing , gerontological nursing , gerontology , psychology , medicine , family medicine , environmental health , population
The presence of family and friends in nursing homes ensures that residents continue to have meaningful and personal relationships with others. With the aim of filling a gap in the Australian gerontological literature on the institutionalised aged, this study reports on the contacts that the elderly in nursing homes have with family and friends. A questionnaire was administered to assess whether residents at eight nursing homes had contact with people living in the community during the week prior to the interview, and examine whether there are differences between residents in who contacts them. The results reveal that like their American and English counterparts, the Australian aged living in nursing homes are not generally forgotten by their family or friends; the childless residents are not without visitors; and who comes to visit varies with the marital status of the resident.