| Abstract: | One type of social support is social activity. Most older adults engage in some form of social activity with network members, either in person or by telephone, especially during an episode of an acute illness. Informational support (one type of functional social support) provides an individual with the necessary knowledge and skills to resolve various problems and stressful situations. This support is provided by members and for members within a social network. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of social activity, a component of informational support, on postinjury functional status following a hip fracture in women 65 years of age and older. A cross-sectional exploratory study was conducted to examine the relationship between informational support and postinjury functional status in older women recovering from hip fracture. A correlational design was used to examine the relationships among an older woman's individual characteristics, social activity-informational support, and postinjury functional status. The sample was obtained from two community hospitals containing subacute units and a geriatric center with a short stay rehabilitation unit. Over half of the respondents were interviewed in their homes (55%); the remaining were interviewed either at a hospital subacute unit (33%), geriatric rehabilitation center (11%), or while living with a family member (1%). Instruments used in this study included: (a) Pfeiffer's Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, (b) the instrumental activities of daily living and a modified version of physical activities of daily living subscales from the OARS Multidimensional Functional Assessment Questionnaire, (c) the modified Informational Support subscale in the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors version, and (d) individual characteristics (age, marital status, education, income, living arrangement, preinjury functional status, time since injury, number of postoperative complications, length of hospital stay, and discharge destination). A convenience sample of 73 respondents were interviewed. Results indicated that: (a) time since injury predicted informational support, and (b) preinjury functional status (FS), time since injury, and informational support predicted postinjury FS. This is the first study to examine the influence of informational support on postinjury functional status in older women recovering from a hip fracture. The results support an important relationship between informational support and postinjury functional status. Future studies are needed to explore how informational support from health care providers, family, friends, and community can improve the recovery process and to assist the interdisciplinary team in designing therapeutic interventions that promote informational support in hip fracture patients. |
