Leisure, functional disability and depression among older Chinese living in residential care homes

Abstract

These results provide support for the mediating and moderating roles of leisure in the stress-health relationship among institutionalized elders. To enhance residents' psychological health, residential care homes are recommended to organize more leisure activities.

The moderating effect of social support on the relationship between physical health and suicidal thoughts among Chinese rural elderly: A nursing home sample

“…This might be the reason that Chinese institutional elders’ physical health status tends to be poorer than that of community‐dwelling elders (Ouyang et al . ). Additionally, according to previous studies, physical health problems could reduce elders’ self‐esteem by impairing their self‐care ability and self‐independence (Chen ) and exposing more obstacles and limitations in their daily life (Franak et al .…”

“…Previous studies showed that the main reasons for Chinese elderly entering nursing homes were decline in physical function, limited selfcare ability, and lack of family caregivers (Gu et al 2007). This might be the reason that Chinese institutional elders' physical health status tends to be poorer than that of community-dwelling elders (Ouyang et al 2015). Additionally, according to previous studies, physical health problems could reduce elders' self-esteem by impairing their self-care ability and self-independence (Chen 1996) and exposing more obstacles and limitations in their daily life (Franak et al 2015).…”

“…; Ouyang et al . ). However, it has not been tested whether this model could alleviate suicidal thoughts triggered by physical decline among Chinese rural institutional elderly.…”

“…Thus, institutional care has become a rising trend in rural China (Wu et al 2009). However, residents in nursing homes tend to show higher prevalence of depression, which could strongly predict suicide, than community dwellers in urban China (Ouyang et al 2015). Additionally, simply moving to a nursing home has been identified as a risk factor for suicide (Murphy et al 2015).…”

“…The moderating role of social support on suicide may be better understood through the stress-buffering model, in which social support can serve as a coping resource to moderate the relationship between stressors and negative psychological reactions (Kwok et al 2011). Poor physical health is often viewed by researchers as an ageing-related stressor; the buffering effect of social support on the association between physical decline and psychological distress, such as depression, has been demonstrated (Kwok et al 2011;Ouyang et al 2015). However, it has not been tested whether this model could alleviate suicidal thoughts triggered by physical decline among Chinese rural institutional elderly.…”