Assessment the Interests of Elderly People Residing in Nursing Homes in Individual Activities

Abstract

Background: Aging is a process that happens over the course of human development in the last stage of life, the elderly have individual needs and interests which have been unknown due to differences between generations and lack of knowledge to them. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the interests of the elderly in the domain of individual activities to be used by institutions and organizations for planning. Patients and Methods: In this descriptive–analytical study, 80 elderly people in the age group 65 to 85 years residing in eight nursing homes in Tehran, Iran and affiliated with the Welfare Organization were studied. Their interest in three domains of individual activities daily activities, cultural educational affairs, and physical exercises were measured using a questionnaire and Interest Check List taken from Matsutessiu’s and Klyczek et al.’s studies. To analyze the data, the frequency percentage, the Chi-square test, and the Fisher test were used with a significance level of 5% as determined via SPSS-18. Moreover, to evaluate the statistical validity of data, cluster analysis was used. Results: Investigation of the elderly people’s interests in three domains of individual activities showed the greatest interest in the activities of daily living; elderly of both sexes were interested in putting on makeup up appearance Dressing up , going shopping, and dust , while the women were interested in cooking (over 80%). Meanwhile significant difference was seen in the women’s and men’s interest in driving, cooking,and washing (P = 0.05). In terms of cultural–educational pursuits, both sexes were interested in scientific and religious studies, praying, and listening to lectures. However, men were more interested in historical studies and concert (over 80%). Moreover, a significant difference between the two genders was evident in terms of writing and math calculations (P 0.001). Conclusions: The results showed that in the domain of individual activities in both sexes, the rates of interest in daily activities, culturaleducational pursuits, and physical exercise were very similar. However, in some cases, there were differences between the two sexes in terms of their interest in specific activities.