ng, Nayak & Nayak (1989) have stated that inadequate quality of care plays an important role in the onset of depression. The authors also pointed out that their study reaffirms the need for better quality of care in nursing homes.
The importance of determining the effects of quality of care on depression in populations of nursing home elderly can be seen in statistics provided by Rogers (1982) who stated that, on the average, the risk of being among the institutionalized elderly for sustained periods of time is about 25 out of 100. Similarly, Kovar & Harris (1988) reported that in 1984 about 3.2 million non-institutionalized people, by 65 years of age, were already in circumstances that placed them at great risk of going into a nursing home within a few years. Moreover, Edmondson (1988) has reported that:
. . . the very elderly spend more time in nursing homes. In the year before their death, men aged 45-64 only spend seven days in nursing homes, while men aged 85 and over spend 111 days in nursing homes. For wo
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