the relationship between seleh-ye rahem and health status of the elderly in the city of qom, 2012

background and objectives: sele-ye rahem is a social behaviour that promotes social spirit, improves life expectancy and physical and mental health. seleh-ye rahem means maintaining supporting and friendly relationships with one’s physical arham (family members and relatives) and spiritual arham (consisting of the prophet, the infallible imams, religious scholars and imam’s descendants or sadat). the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between seleh-ye rahem and health status of the elderly. methods: in this descriptive- correlational study 300 elderly were selected with cluster- random sampling from the city of qom in 2012. self-designed physical and spiritual seleh-ye rahem and health status of the elderly questionnaire were used. data was analyzed using spss version 18, descriptive statistics, and multiple stepwise regression and pearson tests. results: the overall health status of older people has a significant relationship with seleh-ye rahem with family members (r=0.328) and prophet and infallible imams (r= 0.323, p<0.05), but there is no significant relationship between their health status and seleh-ye rahem with kinsfolk,friends, religious scholar and imams descendants (sadat). multiple regression test showed that 41.7% of the elderly health status change was related to their life condition,age,seleh-ye rahem with family members,seleh-ye rahem with the prophet and the infallible imams and their economic condition (p<0.001). conclusion: the elderly that receiving more support from seleh-ye rahem with family members and the prophet and the infallible imams had better health status. nurses can have a role in improving health of the elderly through supporting and reinforcing familial and social relationships.there is room for studies that would identify and address the underlying reasons people are forgetting about seleh-ye rahem  and it plays important role in different aspects of one’s life especially health.