The issue of informal support system resiliency is analyzed for approximately 700 vulnerable elderly persons in a variety of communities (e.g., urban age-segregated housing, ethnic urban age-integrated community, rural age-integrated, etc.). These samples, while geographically specific, are diverse, and a case can be made for generalizing the conclusions originating in this study to the larger population of vulnerable elderly persons in this country. There is a reexamination of the following questions: 1) Do informal support systems generally exist for vulnerable elderly persons; 2) Are significant levels of help being given by these helpers? An examination is also made of the following questions: 1) Can we depend upon these informal systems to continue to provide care now being given, and to respond to new needs that may arise in the future; 2) How is this helping behavior initiated? Within this study, the vulnerable elderly persons were generally found to have informal support systems characterized by active communication. The central role of the informal system is the transmittal of knowledge. Network members pick up information about the individual in regular ongoing communication of a noninstrumental character, interpret this information, act in ways that are responsive to the individual's needs, and are generally prepared to continue to act as new needs arise.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AllanC. and BrotmanH., Chartbook on Aging in America, The 1981 White House Conference on Aging, U. S. DHHS, Health United States, 1981, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 82-1232, Hyattsville, Maryland, December 1981.
2.
ShanasE., Family Relationships of Older People, Health Information Foundation, Chicago, Illinois, 1961.
3.
SussmanM. B., Relationships of Adult Children with their Parents in the United States, in Social Structure and Family—Generational Relations, ShanasE. and StreibG. (eds.), Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1965.
4.
ShanasE.TownsendP.WedderburnP.FriisH.MiljojP., and StehouwerJ., Old People in Three Industrial Societies, Atherton Press, New York, 1968.
5.
JacksonJ. J., Comparative Life Styles and Family and Friend Relationships among Older Black Women, Family Coordinator, 21:4, pp. 477–485, October 1972.
6.
ShimkinD. B.ShimkinE. M., and FrateD. A. (eds.), The Extended Family in Black Societies, in Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, BenstockR. and ShanasE. (eds.), Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1976.
7.
U. S. General Accounting Office, Comptroller General of the U. S., The Well-being of Older People in Cleveland, Ohio, report to the Congress, GAO-13-HRD-77-70, April 1977.
8.
SherwoodS.MorrisJ. N.GutkinC. E., and WienersC. N., The Needs of Elderly Community Residents of Massachusetts, Department of Social Gerontological Research, HRCA, (mimeo) a final contract report, the study of which was supported by a research contract with the Survey Research Program, University of Massachusetts, in connection with AoA Grant #90-A-641-01, Boston, Massachusetts, 1977.
9.
GurlandB.DeanL.GurlandR., and CookD., Personal Time Dependency in the Elderly of New York City—Findings from the U. S.-U. K. Cross National Geriatric Community Study, in Dependency in the Elderly of New York City, Community Council of Greater New York, October 1978.
10.
CantorM., Neighbors and Friends Research on Aging, 1:4, December 1979.
11.
SussmanM., Social and Economic Supports and Family Environment for the Elderly—Final Report to the Administration on Aging, AoA Grant No. 90-A-316, January 1980.
12.
MorrisJ. N., Massachusetts Elderly: Their Vulnerability and Need for Support Services and the Role of the Commonwealth's Home Care Corporations, Department of Social Gerontological Research, HRCA, a final contract report, a study of which was supported by a contract with Department of Elder Affairs, Boston, Massachusetts, April 1982.
13.
SeelbachW. C., Filial Responsibility and Morale among Elderly Black and White Urbanites: A Normative and Behavioral Analysis, doctoral dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Penn., 1976.
14.
BlackD., The Older Person and the Family, in Aging: Prospects and Issues, DavisR. (ed.), Ethel Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, pp. 69–78, 1973.
15.
HaysW. C. and MindelC. H., Extended Kin Relations in Black and White Families, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 35, pp. 51–57, 1973.
16.
MindelC. H. and HabensteinR. W., Ethnic Families in America: Patterns and Variations, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., New York, 1976.
17.
MayerM. J., Kin and Neighbors, Differential Roles in Differing Cultures, paper presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society, New York, 1976.
18.
ShanasE., Social Myth as Hypotheses—The Case of the Family Relations of Old People, The Gerontologist, 19, pp. 3–9, 1979.
19.
StreibG., Family Patterns in Retirement, Journal of Social Issues, 14, pp. 46–60, 1958.
20.
TownsendP., The Family Life of Old People, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1957.
21.
TownsendP., The Structure of the Family, in Old People in Three Industrial Societies, ShanasE. (eds.), Atherton Press, New York, 1968.
22.
CantorM. H., Life Space and the Social Support System of the Inner City Elderly of New York, The Gerontologist, 15:1, pp. 23–27, 1975.
23.
Sena-RiveraG., Extended Kinship in the U. S. — Competing Models and the Case of La Familia Chicana, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41, pp. 121–129, 1979.
24.
ShanasE., Measuring the Home Health Needs of the Aged in Five Countries, Journal of Gerontology, 26, pp. 37–40, 1971.
25.
MaddoxG., Social Determinants of Behavior, in Behavioral Science: A Selective View, HineF.PfeifferE.MaddoxG.HeinP., and FriedelR. (eds.), Little-Brown, Boston, Massachusetts, 1972.
26.
KahanaE. and CoeR. M., Alternatives in Long-Term Care, in Long-Term Care: A Handbook for Researchers, Planners, and Providers, SherwoodS. (ed.), Spectrum Publications, New York, 1975.
27.
GottesmanL. and BrodyE., Psycho-social Intervention Programs within the Institutional Setting, in Long-Term Care: A Handbook for Researchers, Planners, and Providers, SherwoodS. (ed.), Spectrum Publications, Inc., New York, 1975.
28.
LowenthalM. F. and RobinsonB., Social Networks and Isolation, in Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, BinstockR. and ShanasE. (eds.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976.
29.
NeugartenB. L. and HagestadG. O., Age and the Life Course, in Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, BinstockR. H. and ShanasE. (eds.), Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1976.
30.
SherwoodS.MorrisJ. N., Alternative Paths to Long Term Care, Department of Social Gerontological Research (mimeo), a final contract report in connection with AoA Grant #90-A-1666, Boston, Massachusetts, 1982.
31.
Community Council of Greater New York, Dependency in the Elderly of New York City, report of a research utilization workshop held on 23 March 1978, New York, 1978.
32.
WorkJ. and CalsynR., Family Involvement in Homes, The Gerontologist, 17:6, pp. 500–505, 1977.
33.
BarneyJ., The Pregogative of Choice in Long-term Care, The Gerontologist, 17, pp. 309–314, 1977.
34.
BrodyS. J.PoulshockW., and MasciocchiC. F., CF, The Family Caring Unit: A Major Consideration in the Long-term Support System, The Gerontologist, 18, pp. 556–561, 1978.
35.
CallahanJ. J.Jr.DiamondL.GieleJ., and MorrisR., Responsibility of Families for Their Severely Disabled Edlers, Health Care Financing Review, 1:3, pp. 29–48, 1980.
36.
CollinsA. H. and PancoastD. L., Natural Helping Networks, NASW, Washington, D.C., NASW Publication #CBC-070-CO, 1976.
