Objectives According to documentary statistics, the old age phenomenon in the world, as well as in Iran, is irrefutable. Two main problems of elderly people must be solved, i.e. low intelligence and social isolation. So, there is a need to provide a more suitable environment to the senior citizens in order to decrease their depression caused by loneliness. This study, thus, examines the importance of cognitive and social factors and the relationship between them, affecting the healing properties of the nursing homes of Iran.
Methods & Materials This study was conducted through the survey process by examining 148 older adults (75 males and 73 females) living in 9 nursing homes in Tehran. A questionnaire was presented to the participants (Cronbach’s alpha equal to 0.904) to investigate the association of perceptional (mental and emotional) and social factors.
Results The relationships between the study variables and demographic data of the participants were analyzed. The mean age of the elderly age was 83 years, and the standard deviation was 0.58. The analyses by descriptive and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.99 and significance level P≤0.05 and variance analysis of Fisher LSD) were performed by SPSS 22.0. It was evident from the results that there is a relationship of perceptual-psychological (P=0.000) and socio-cultural (P=0.000) factors with the perceptual-emotional factor. There was also a relationship of perceptual-emotional (P=0.000) and socio-cultural (P=0.003) factors with the perceptual-mental factor. It was also revealed that there are significant relationships between the demographic characteristics of elderly people, the length of stay in the center, marital status, and the reason for their reference to the center. 
Conclusion Based on these findings, it is concluded that the perceptual factors (emotional and mental) of the elderly environment is affected by any alterations in their social and cultural relations. According to the results derived from the demographic characteristics, it is concluded that some features of people also influence these factors. Therefore, these features should be considered in architecture to improve life quality.