Occupational Balance and Quality of Life in Nursing Home Residents

Abstract

Introduction: Nursing home residents may have difficulty maintaining occupational balance. The study aimed to explore occupational balance in nursing home residents, and examine the association between occupational balance and quality of life in this group.

Methods: Forty-six nursing home residents (age range 69-101 years) in Norway were recruited to participate. The data were analyzed descriptively and with independent t-tests and Spearman’s correlation coefficient rho (r_s).

Results: The participants’ occupational balance (M = 20.7) was in the higher end of the scale. In the total sample, occupational balance and quality of life were not significantly associated (r_s = 0.18, p = 0.23). However, splitting the sample by gender revealed a positive association for men (r_s = 0.61, p = 0.01), while it was absent for women (r_s = −0.00, p = 0.99).

Conclusion: When assessing occupational balance and its correlates in elderly nursing home residents, gender appears important to consider.

Keywords:

• Ageing
• elderly
• gender
• occupational balance
• nursing homes
• quality of life

Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to Winnefride Steen and Eduris Morantes, who contributed their ideas for the manuscript and took part in the data collection for the study. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the efforts made by the study participants and the nursing home managers who allowed us to collect the data.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest.