Social support and physical health in the rural elderly

The purpose of this study was to describe the social support networks, level of social support, and perceived physical health of older rural adults. Eighty-two randomly selected subjects over 65 years of age participated. Data were collected using the Personal Resource Questionnaire (PRQ85) and a single-item measure to assess health. Findings suggest that older rural adults have few people in their social support networks, decreased levels of support, and poor health. Because social support has a positive influence on health, nurses need to find ways to increase the level of support in the rural aged.