Elderly Health Journal

Introduction: This study carried out to investigate the causes and motivations of older people residing in nursing home.

Methods: A qualitative description study was designed by choosing a sample of the elderly residing in a nursing home in Tabriz, Iran. Based on purposive sampling, fifteen residents in the age range of 65-85 participated in the study. Data was collected through unstructured interviews/focus group discussions and then analyzed using content analysis.

Results: Generally, two main concepts were obtained from the data as follow: non-compulsory entry and compulsory entry. Moving with prior approval, financial and family problems were considered as the subcategories of non-compulsory entry, while lack of consciousness and deception were dominated as sub-categorise of compulsory entering.

Conclusion: We face a growing demand for community-based long-term care alternative to nursing homes as the elderly population is becoming elder. Frail older people who participated in the research were more likely to delay or prevent their entry into nursing homes.