Owing to recent advances in the field of medical sciences and the standard of living the average span of life is
steadily increasing. This in turn increases the proportion of elderly people and causes many social problems. The increase
in the average span of life is very positive but it is not sufficient. It should be considered with the quality of life. To maintain
a good quality of life in the elderly we should meet physical, psychological, and social needs specific for the elderly people.
Factors closely related to the quality of live in the elderly are physical health, economic or occupational status, and
social support system, such as marital or familial status, friends, social activity, and religion. Positive social relationships
and active social activities will have a good influence on the quality of life in the elderly. The aim of this study was to find
measures to improve social support system and thereby improve the quality of life in the elderly people by surveying 82
elderly people over the age of 65 residing in a nursing home of a rural area. The degree of social support was measured
with 20 questions which were answered from 1 to 5 (range of score: 20 to 100). As results the total score ranged from 26
to 98 (average: 65.4). This means the social support is poor despite relatively high numbers of offspring. The problem is
likely to deepen with the increase of nuclear family in the future and measures of social or national level are needed. The
quality of life was measured in 5 fields (mobility, self-care, daily activity, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression, each
scored in 3 degrees) with Euro QOL. 60% of people complained of pain/discomfort and 50% appealed anxiety/depression,
these problems are generalized in the elderly rather than specific for the some. 30% complained of limitation of mobility,
20% limitation of daily activity, 15% limitation of basic self-care activity such as bathing or wearing clothes. So this means
the concept of healthy life span is more important than the average span of life itself. We need to develop measurement
instruments to evaluate the health status or quality of life in the elderly and social measures or policies to improve the
quality of life in the elderly people.