Health and Social Support of Older Adults in the Community

Black, Margaret E.

doi:10.1017/s0714980800004888

Cited by 20 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Table 2 summarizes the social network characteristics. The table shows the average network to number about 7-8 members, similar to that found in other studies in Israel (Auslander & Litwin, 1990) and elsewhere (Black, 1985). Moreover, the majority of network members were relatives, and most were women.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Still others use name-generating methodologies to calculate the number of helpers in different task areas (Ingersoll-Dayton & Antonucci, 1988;van Tilburg, 1992). It is rare, on the other hand, to find specific calculation of the exchange of support within each of the helper-helpee dyads comprising the support network (Black, 1985).Thus, the application of exchange theory to the study of support giving by older people provides additional parameters for consideration; as was the case with the social network perspective, the role of exchange theory in the current analysis is similarly addressed in an exploratory fashion.The third and last theoretical perspective to be considered suggests that human behavior is variously influenced by control factors. These most usually include two kinds of variables: individual predisposing characteristics (Andersen, Kravitz, & Anderson, 1975;Litwin, 1995) and framing environmental and social forces (Calsyn, Burger, & Roades, 1996;Krout, Cutler, & Coward, 1990).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is directly associated with older people's life satisfaction (Antonucci, Fuhrer, & Jackson, 1990;Black, 1985;Stevens, 1992), happiness (Antonucci & Akiyama, 1987), and self-esteem (Hawley & Chamley, 1986;Wentkowski, 1981). Correspondingly, lack of reciprocity is related to dissatisfaction (Rook, 1987), guilt (Schumaker & Jackson, 1979), limited willingness to ask for help on the part of older adults (Creenberg & Shapiro, 1971;Wenger, 1993), and low self-esteem (Stein, Linn, & Stein, 1982).…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Provision of Informal Support by Elderly People Residing in Assisted Living Facilities

Litwin

1998

The Gerontologist

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This study examined factors facilitating support giving to members of the social network by elderly Jewish persons residing in assisted living facilities in Israel. A support provision score was regressed on two sets of background control variables: personal characteristics and housing factors; social network variables; and an exchange measure-perceived available support. The hierarchical multivariate results revealed that it was principally the perceived support measure along with two personal characteristics (younger age and nonreligious orientation) that explained the variance in the support provision score (IP = .52). The findings underscore the importance of reciprocity within the informal networks of this population. Although there exists a large and growing literature on the support networks of elderly people, the bulk of reported research tends to view older persons primarily as aid recipients (Dean, Kolodny, Wood, & Ensel, 1989;Penning, 1990;Stevens, 1992;Williams, 1995). Where support giving is addressed, the inquiry most often focuses on younger people as providers of assistance to the old (Johnson, 1995). Much less attention has been paid to the role of older persons as support providers, even though it is acknowledged that elders do reciprocate the aid they receive (Peters & Kaiser, 1985), and that they reciprocate in relation to all the types of relationships they maintain (Wentkowski, 1981).The relative lack of efforts to account for help provision by older adults-a necessary component of reciprocity-is troubling, in that reciprocity in the giving and receiving of help has been found to correlate with a range of important outcomes in later life. It is directly associated with older people's life satisfaction (Antonucci, Fuhrer, & Jackson, 1990;Black, 1985;Stevens, 1992), happiness (Antonucci & Akiyama, 1987), and self-esteem (Hawley & Chamley, 1986;Wentkowski, 1981). Correspondingly, lack of reciprocity is related to dissatisfaction (Rook, 1987), guilt (Schumaker & Jackson, 1979), limited willingness to ask for help on the part of older adults (Creenberg & Shapiro, 1971;Wenger, 1993), and low self-esteem (Stein, Linn, & Stein, 1982).This article addresses the important but relatively unaddressed question of what accounts for helping behavior on the part of older people. That is, it explores the factors that facilitate the provision of support by elders to other members of their social network. The discussion is drawn from a study of the 'Address correspondence to Howard Litwin, Paul Baerwald School of Social Work, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem IL-91905, Israel. E-mail: mshowie@pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il social networks of elderly residents of assisted living facilities in Israel, which was carried out in 1995-96.At the time of the study, about 1.4% of elderly Jewish Israelis resided in some 9,000 assisted units. These facilities serve older people who live independently but receive selected auxiliary services such as social activities, nurse on call, and so on. The assiste...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Provision of Informal Support by Elderly People Residing in Assisted Living Facilities

Litwin

1998

The Gerontologist

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“…Interpretation of results from research based on multidimensional concepts of health can be problematic: for example, social support can influence health but it can also be included within a broad definition of health (Black, 1985). Therefore, analyses should always be interpreted with caution.…”

Section: Measurement Scalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Black (1985) has also pointed to the difficulties proponents of the buffer hypothesis have had in the measurement of life events vis d vis social support, and argued that the results of the direct independent effect of social support on health is a more fruitful area for research. The debates highlighted here support Knipscheer's (1 988) model illustrating that the area of social support is complex, in particular with reference to the associations between social support, health and life satisfaction/ morale and other areas of wellbeing.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Life satisfaction and associations with social network and support variables in three samples of elderly people

Bowling

Farquhar

Browne

1991

Int J Geriat Psychiatry

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Research evidence concerning the contributions of social networks and support to the subjective wellbeing (ie life satisfaction) of older persons is not consistent. This article reports the results of an investigation of social network type and health status and their effects on life satisfaction in relation to 1415 elderly people from three independent but comparable surveys: two in City and Hackney, London (urban area) and one in Braintree, Essex (semi-rural area). The percentages of the total variation in overall life satisfaction which was explained by the model ranged from 22% to 33% between samples. The most variation was explained among the sampleaged 85+ living in inner London. Although most of the variance remains unexplained, healthstatus was a more powerful predictor of life satisfaction among respondents living in City and Hackney, but not those living in Braintree

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Psychiatric morbidity among people aged 85+ in 1987. A follow‐up study at two and a half years: Associations with changes in psychiatric morbidity

Bowling

Farquhar

Grundy

et al. 1992

Int J Geriat Psychiatry

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SUMMARYThis article reports findings from a longitudinal survey of very elderly people living at home in London. The research aimed to identify social, psychological and physical characteristics associated with positive ageing and successful survival in the community in later life and its converse-negative ageing-as well as the associated policy implications. Associations with psychiatric morbidity, measured using the General Health Questionnaire, among sample members without cognitive impairment between the baseline interviews in 1987 and at follow-up, two and a half years later in 1990, are reported. Twenty-five per cent of survivors scored over the threshold of the GHQ in 1987 and 30% scored over the threshold in 1990. Half of those with a score over the threshold in 1990 also scored over the threshold in 1987. Hierarchical regression (using residualized change analysis) was used to estimate the effects of the independent variables on changes in psychiatric morbidity. The most significant predictor of psychiatric morbidity (GHQ score) in 1990 was baseline GHQ score, followed by health and functional status scores. Health and functional status were also the strongest predictors of baseline (1987) GHQ scores. The uniqueness of the study lies in the collection of follow-up data on a sample of very elderly people, given that most surveys are cross-sectional and contain too few people aged 85+ to merit separate analysis. It contributes to the small body of literature on outcome of depression. The lack of consistent associations with recovery from psychiatric morbidity in the literature enhances the importance of studies aiming to identify factors associated with different outcomes.

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Health and Social Support of Older Adults in the Community

Cited by 20 publications

References 16 publications

The Provision of Informal Support by Elderly People Residing in Assisted Living Facilities

The Provision of Informal Support by Elderly People Residing in Assisted Living Facilities

Life satisfaction and associations with social network and support variables in three samples of elderly people

Psychiatric morbidity among people aged 85+ in 1987. A follow‐up study at two and a half years: Associations with changes in psychiatric morbidity

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