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Health and Social Support of Older Adults in the Community1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

M. Black
M. Black
Affiliation:
McMaster University
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Abstract

Structured interviews were conducted with forty-eight older clients discharged from a public health nursing service in order to: (1) describe their social support network and (2) identify specific components of social support related to physical, social and emotional health. The sample was comprised primarily of older widows living alone to whom family and relatives contributed the largest amount of support. Correlation analyses revealed that: (1) age, emotional support given by older persons to their supporters and aid given and received by older persons were related to physical functioning; (2) emotional, decisional and aid support given by older persons to their supports (total reciprocity) and femaleness were related to emotional functioning and; (3) emotional and aid support received by older persons and reciprocity were related to social functioning.

Résumé

Quarante huit personnes âgées ayant bénéficié des services sanitaires publics ont été soumises à une série d'entrevues structurées en vue 1° de d'obtenir une description de leur réseau d'appuis sociaux, et 2° d'identifier les constituants spécifiques de ces appuis qui sont liés à la santé physique, émotive et sociale. L'échantillonnage comprenait surtout des veuves vivant seules et dont la famille constituait le principal appui. L'analyse des correlations révèle que: 1) l'âge, l'appui émotif donné par les personnes âgées aux personnes qui les appuient ainsi que l'aide donnée et reçue par les personnes âgées sont reliés au fonctionnement physique, 2° l'appui émotif et décisionnel ainsi que l'aide accordés par les personnes âgées aux personnes qui les appuient (réciprocité totale), de même que le fait d'appartenir aux sexe féminin sont reliés au fonctionnement émotif, et 3° l'aide et l'appui émotif reçu par les personnes âgées ainsi que la réciprocité sont reliés au fonctionnement social.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 4 , Issue 4 , December 1985 , pp. 213 - 226
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1985

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