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Investigating the Association of Social Network and Well-Being of Individuals Living Alone with Cognitive Impairment

Gibson, Allison K

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Social Work.
While most individuals experiencing cognitive impairment (CI) reside with a caregiver, an estimated 800,000 live alone. Such individuals may have an increased risk for injury to self or others through self-neglect as result of CI symptoms. While there are a number of support services available for CI, most interventions are targeted to support the dyad or the live-in caregiver. Few interventions exist to support and maintain independence of an individual with CI residing independently in their community. By having a clearer understanding of how an individual’s social network relates to the person’s perceived well-being among the population of older adults living alone with CI, stronger interventions could be developed to enhance the quality of the individual’s care to manage their memory impairment symptoms and maintain safety, as well as support their right to self-determination in living independently in the home may be able to be sustained for a longer period of time. One model that has had considerable success in exploring well-being as it relates to older adults’ primary contacts is Lubben’s social network theory. Perceived quality of support from one’s social network is often times recognizes as being more important than the actual support provided—in that knowing help is available may be just as beneficial as the actual help being provided. By using the 2011 National Health & Aging Trends Study (NHATS) data set, the following three research questions were explored: 1) what are the characteristics of persons living alone with CI? 2) Who do persons living alone with CI identify as members of their social networks? 3) Is there an association between type of social interaction and perceived well-being? Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-squares, correlations, canonical correlations, factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results of this study indicated that the majority of persons living with cognitive impairment were older, White, widowed females. While the SEM model resulted in inconclusive findings, possible explanations for why social network and well-being did not show to be related may be due to how social network was conceptualized as counts of contacts. Making adaptations to Lubben’s social network model may also be helpful in understanding this unique population’s social support. It might be more appropriate to consider social network contacts of the secondary and tertiary sphere given this population’s diverse social networks.
Virginia Richardson (Advisor)
289 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Gibson, A. K. (2014). Investigating the Association of Social Network and Well-Being of Individuals Living Alone with Cognitive Impairment [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1408309903

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Gibson, Allison. Investigating the Association of Social Network and Well-Being of Individuals Living Alone with Cognitive Impairment . 2014. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1408309903.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Gibson, Allison. "Investigating the Association of Social Network and Well-Being of Individuals Living Alone with Cognitive Impairment ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1408309903

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)