Why Nursing Home Residents Use Social Network Systems: An Attachment Perspective

Most long-term care facilities can offer residents’ with sufficiently material and physical care, but psychological support may not be always provided due to the tight financial budget or labor resources. Residents’ isolation and loneliness then become a big issue, especially for the residents. Social network systems (SNS) have been proved to be a more effective information transmission channel for thoughts, perspectives, and information sharing than traditional channels such as microblogging, e-mails, or telephones. This study conducted a quasi-experiment to identify factors that influence residents’ intention of using SNS and the impacts of SNS on them in a long-term care facility. The results showed that residents’ attached motivation of personal interacting is a significant factor that influences their intention to use the social network platform. Meanwhile, both the loneliness and depression scales of the participants were decreased significantly.