Determine the relationship between perceived social support levels, the size of social networks with healthy lifestyle behavior and affecting factors in elderly people

This research is a descriptive and cross-sectional study that aim determining the relationship between the perceived social support levels, the size of social network and healthy lifestyle behaviors and the affecting factors in the elderly people. 65 years and older 369 volunteer individuals were included in the survey by random sampling technique applied to 1 Nolu Fatih, 2 Nolu Camiatik, 3 Nolu, Argithani, Asagicigil and Yukaricigil Family Health Centers between December 2016 and March 2017 in Ilgin/Konya. The data collected by Introductory Information Form, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Social Network List, and Health-promoting Lifestyle Profile. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics followed by t-Test, One-Way Anova, Mann Whitney U, Kruskall Wallis, and Correlation tests. According to the findings of the research, there is a positive relationship between perceived social support and healthy-promoting lifestyle behaviors but there is no statistical relationship between social network and healthy-promoting lifestyle behaviors. As individuals grow older, perceived levels of social support and healthy-promoting lifestyle behaviors decrease. Men, married individuals, employees, living with them spouses and children, and self-health is 'good' have higher level of perceived social support and healthy- promoting lifestyle behaviors than other elderly people. In addition, the social network of married individuals and employees is broader than other elderly people. As a result, as the level of social support perceived in the elderly increases, healthy lifestyle behaviors also increase.