Abstract
Falls among community-dwelling older adults is a big public health problem, which have an effect on older adults' health, independence, and quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between social networks and the risk for falls among community-dwelling older adults. This was a descriptive correlational study, which utilized a cross-sectional survey for the data collection. The dependent and independent variable of this study were the risk for falls among the community-dwelling older adults, and the strength and type of social networks respectively. In this study, 218 community-dwelling older adults were recruited, who were living in the south-central Minnesota in the United States. A paper survey was distributed, which included the Demographic Tool, Fall Risk Questionnaire, and Lubben Social Network Scale. However, the total number of participants who completed the survey was 184 older adults. The results of this study showed that there is a weak negative relationship between the strength of social networks and the risk for falls, but was not statistically significant. It is recommended to conduct future research with the inclusion of gender as an independent variable to understand their impact on the relationship between social networks and the risk for falls. In the future, a tool that measures the impact of structural and functional dimensions of social networks on the risk for falls is necessary to understand the relationship between social networks and the risk for falls.
Advisor
Donald Ebel
Committee Member
Diane Witt
Committee Member
Mary Visser
Committee Member
Norma Krumwiede
Date of Degree
2015
Language
english
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Science (MS)
College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Sikhrakar, S. (2015). Falls among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Determining the Relationship Between Social Networks and the Risk for Falls [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/443/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Gerontology Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Mental and Social Health Commons
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