HLTHAGE 1BB3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 13: Family Caregivers, Long-Term Care, Social Capital
10 Jun 2016
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Social support: the help and assistance people give to one another. Helps older people cope with aging and improve their quality of life and wellbeing. Formal support: paid support from professional caregivers such as doctors, nurses, social workers, and homecare workers. Informal support: unpaid support from family members, friends, neighbours, and others in the community. Aside from spouses, children are the most important source of social support for older family members. Social capital = the amount of resources available to a person, including social support: changes over time and differs for each individual. Women provide the majority of informal support. *people usually turn to the formal system only after the informal system has failed to meet their needs. Informal supports can also buffer stress from life events such as widowhood or illness. Older women get more informal care than older men. Social networks and living arrangements can influence the informal and formal support that older people receive.
