[Perceived social support and morale of the elderly staying at home]

This study was done to identify the relationship between social support and morale in the elderly.

A structured questionnaire was carried out from April, 2003 to June, 2003 on 203 elderly. The data was analyzed with a SPSS program for descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficients, t-test, ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression was done

The level of social support was moderate, and family support was the highest score. In types of support, appraisal support was the highest score. The level of morale was slightly lower than moderate, and the score of social support showed significantly positive correlation with morale. In general characteristics, several variables were significantly related to social support and morale. The most powerful predictor of morale was material support by family and the variance was 19.6%. A combination of material support by family, emotional support by relatives, level of satisfaction with pocket money, perceived health, level of intimacy with one's children, and material support by friends account for 43.3% of the variance in morale of the elderly.

To increase the morale of the elderly, it is necessary to consolidate material support by family and relatives.