ELDERLY AND SOCIAL SUPPORT

Elderly and Social Support

Elderly and Social Support

Introduction

In recent decades we have witnessed an increase in research devoted to social support. Although the first empirical studies tend to treat the concept of support or social support as a one-dimensional construct, there is presently seems to be a consensus that it is a multidimensional concept, which must be distinguished from other social relationships. This distinction is especially important because social relations do not always provide such support, for example, a child may live with his parents but this does not guarantee adequate support. Social relations refer to the network of contacts and social relationships of the individuals, which is the “heart” of the social functioning of the elderly people.

On the other hand, although the term social support is commonly used to account for the process by which social relationships have a beneficial effect on health and wellness of especially the elderly, it is necessary to clarify different concepts that allow also accounting for the subtlety and complexity of the concept in order to determine its contribution towards the society. Discussing some of the definition of social support and establishing the differences between formal and informal social support, this paper aims at exploring how social support is beneficial for the health and wellness of elderly population. The paper also aims to review the evidence of relationships or associations between social support and health functionality of elderly.

Background

The concept of social support emerged in the 60s and gained prominence among the scholars of sociology in 70s. Two disciplines have helped to spread and popularize the concept of social support. First, the discipline of epidemiology, which is interested in the impact of the quality of the social fabric on the prevalence of certain diseases and mortality in especially the elderly. Second, psychology studies have provided evidence of the beneficial impact of social support on the health of elderly. In addition, it has studied social support in the course of life from the perspective of developmental psychology (Kao, 1988).

In general, social support has been considered by many researchers as a mediating variable that produces a protective effect against the effects of stress, thus preventing the development of disease. According to research scholars, social support can protect people in crisis in a wide range of conditions: from the arthritis to tuberculosis, depression, alcoholism and social decline syndrome. In addition, social support can reduce the amount of medication required, speed recovery and facilitate adherence to prescribed medical regimens (Loughlin, 2004).

There are many ways of looking at social support. It has been defined in terms of activities and behaviors (lend money, give advice or information, share tasks), in terms of relationships or interactions (having friends and confidants, be committed in groups or associations, have contact with community members and a network of people), and in terms of subjective assessment (quality of relationships, satisfaction with aid received). Despite the diversity of points of view, there seems to be a consensus that social support is a multidimensional construct with ...