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Social capital, health, and care home residence among older adults: a secondary analysis of the Health Survey for England 2000

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Abstract

This secondary analysis of the Health Survey for England 2000 aimed to investigate whether individual-level social capital is associated with care home residence and with function, mental health, and self-assessed health in older adults. Older adults in both care home and community residential settings were included. Two indicators of social capital, perceived social support and group participation, were considered for both care home and community-dwelling respondents. Amongst community dwellers, trust in others was considered as a third indicator. Functional impairment, psychiatric morbidity, and self-assessed health were used as indicators of health. Multivariable modelling was undertaken using logistic or ordinal logistic regression. The results show that severe lack of social support was associated with over twice the odds of care home residence, with increased odds of psychiatric morbidity in both care home and community settings, and with more severe functional impairment and worse self-assessed health in the community but not in care homes. Participation in more groups was associated with lower odds of functional impairment in both settings, and with lower odds of psychiatric morbidity and better self-assessed health among community but not among care home respondents. High levels of trust were associated with lower severity of functional impairment, reduced odds of psychiatric morbidity, and better self-assessed health. It is concluded that individual-level social capital was associated with care home residence and with indicators of physical, mental and self-assessed health. These associations differed between community and care home settings, and were generally stronger in the community.

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Acknowledgements

Health Survey for England 2000 data were obtained through the UK Data Archive, University of Essex. M.K.A. was supported by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK and by a Dalhousie University Internal Medicine Research Foundation Fellowship and a Ross Stewart Smith Fellowship for Medical Research. Thanks to Prof. Emily Grundy and Kiran Nanchahal, LSHTM, and to the editor-in-chief of the European Journal of Ageing, Prof. Dorly Deeg and two anonymous reviewers for helpful and constructive advice on this paper.

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Author notes

  1. Melissa K. Andrew

    Present address: Division of Geriatric Medicine, Dalhousie University, Camp Hill Veterans’ Memorial Building, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2E1, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Melissa K. Andrew

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  1. Melissa K. Andrew
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Correspondence to Melissa K. Andrew.

Appendix: group participation

Appendix: group participation

Community list

  1. 1.

    Political parties

  2. 2.

    Trade unions (including students’ union)

  3. 3.

    Environmental group

  4. 4.

    Parent/school association

  5. 5.

    Education, arts or music group/evening class

  6. 6.

    Tenants’/residents’ group or neighbourhood watch

  7. 7.

    Religious group or church organisation

  8. 8.

    Group for elderly people (e.g. lunch clubs)

  9. 9.

    Youth group (e.g. scouts, guides, youth clubs, etc.)

  10. 10.

    Social club/working men’s club

  11. 11.

    Sports club

  12. 12.

    Women’s institute/townswomen’s group

  13. 13.

    Women’s group

  14. 14.

    Other group or organisation (specify)

Care home list

  1. 1.

    Religious services

  2. 2.

    Films or videos

  3. 3.

    Entertainment from outside the home

  4. 4.

    Bingo or games, including card games

  5. 5.

    Discussion groups

  6. 6.

    Reminiscence group

  7. 7.

    Arts and crafts, including knitting, sewing, and painting

  8. 8.

    Classes or lectures

  9. 9.

    Music or singing group

  10. 10.

    Clubs/social groups

  11. 11.

    Trips and outings

  12. 12.

    Parties

  13. 13.

    Self-help or mutual support group

Adapted from HSE 2000 documentation (Prior et al. 2000).

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Andrew, M.K. Social capital, health, and care home residence among older adults: a secondary analysis of the Health Survey for England 2000. Eur J Ageing 2, 137–148 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-005-0031-8

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