Assessment of multiple constructs of social integration for older adults living in nursing homes

ABSTRACT

A variety of terms and measures have been used in the literature to denote being socially integrated, and many studies of older adults focus on only social networks or social support and often only include those living in the community. The purpose of this study was to assess multiple constructs of social integration (i.e., social networks, social capital, social support, and social engagement) for older adults in nursing homes. Data were collected from 140 older adults at 30 nursing homes in Kansas. We interviewed older adults’ in-person using a survey questionnaire, and used multilevel confirmatory factor analysis to analyze the data. The final model that included the four constructs had acceptable fit (χ² = 174.71; df = 112; p < .01; CFI = .93; RMSEA = .06; SRMR-W = .06; SRMR-B = .12). The results showed that the proposed model was supported at the individual level. At the between-level, social networks and social support were supported. Study results have methodological and practice/policy implications for the study of older adults in long term care settings. In particular, this study contributes to understanding how to operationally define and differentiate social integration variables in studies of older adults, particularly when study data are hierarchical.

KEYWORDS:

• Social networks
• social support
• social engagement
• social capital
• nursing homes

Notes

¹ SES had a potential linear dependency with the social support and social engagement latent variables; therefore, SES was not controlled for on these selected constructs.

² The model included the covariates (ADLs, cognitive status, self-reported health status) for each construct; SES was included for social networks and social capital.

³ Numbers in boxes correspond to the numbers in Table 1.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by John A. Hartford Foundation Doctoral Fellows in Geriatric Social Work; and the University of Kansas, Office of Graduate Studies.