This study aims to provide the fundamental data for substantial nursing intervention in the elderly through a comparative appreciation on family support, self-esteem, and health status between the institutionalized elderly people and the home-staying ones. The subjects of this study are the institutionalized 108 elderly people of E and C Public Homes and the home-staying 109 elderly ones of O-Nho In Jeong(a kind of public recreational facilities for the aged) over the age of 65. The instruments for this research are based upon the tool(11 items, 5 points for each) for measuring family support developed by Choi, Young Hee(1984), a self-esteem scale done by Rosenberg (1965), the tools(20 items) for checking the health status of the elderly done by Lee, Young-Ja(1989). The sampling for this study has been carried on from July, 2000 until November, 2000. Questionnaire data were drawn up by personal interviews. The analyses of collected data are based on general characteristics calculated at the rate of 100 percentage to the average, t-test, ANOVA(some difference on a level with p<.05 being subsequently confirmed by DMR) for family support, self-esteem and health status, and Pearson Correlation to verify the hypothetical correlation among the subjects' family support, self-esteem and health status. The results of this study are as follows: 1. The difference between two groups in the light of family support, self-esteem and health status. (1) Family support - The rate of the family support that the institutionalized elderly people perceive turned out to be 22.13, that of the home-staying ones 30.99. (2) Self-esteem - The rate of the self-esteem that the former perceives proved to be 25.59, that of the latter 32.28. (3) Health Status - The rate of the health status that the former perceives turned out to be 39.67, that of the latter 51.60. 2. Family support, self-esteem, health status in terms of demographic characteristic (1) Family support - The group of institutionalized elderly people shows a tendency to be chiefly influenced by the death or life of the spouse and the number of the children; the group of the home staying ones to be chiefly influenced by the educational level (2) Self-esteem - The group of institutionalized elderly people shows a tendency to be chiefly influenced by educational level; the group of the home staying ones to be chiefly influenced by the amount of pocket money, the pocket money provider and the family main supporter. (3) Health Status - The group of institutionalized elderly people shows a tendency to be chiefly influenced by educational level; the group of the home staying ones to be chiefly influenced by age, the death or life of spouse, religion, and the educational level. 3. Correlation among family support, self-esteem, and health status The rate of correlation between family support and health status proved to be the highest (r=.549). After came the rate of correlation between health status and self-esteem, which turned out to be(r=.506). The last came the rate of correlation between family support and self-esteem, which proved to be(r=.406). According to this study, there is a conspicuously close correlation among family support, self-esteem, and health status for the elderly. Thus, it would be indispensable to seek out a variety of nursing intervention ways how the elderly could promote family support, self-esteem, and health status.