Centro de Documentación de Fundación MAPFRE - The Structure and functional correlates of social support networks of people in advanced old age living in chosen urban and rural areas in Poland : a cross-sectional study

Notas: Sumario: The purpose of the study was to identify the different types of social support networks (SSNs) among community-dwelling people aged 75+?years in selected areas of Poland, and to evaluate any associations between the network type and demographic and health variables of the population studied. The two most prevalent SSN types identified using the Practitioner Assessment of Network Type were family dependent (35.8%) and locally integrated (32.2%). Local self-contained (6.4%), wider community focused (2.8%) and private restricted (5.6%) SSNs were observed less frequently. In 17.2% of cases, it was not possible to identify the type of network unequivocally. Older people with a locally integrated SSN, in contrast to the family dependent type, were generally younger, living alone, and less likely to be homebound, rate their health as poor, suffer from depression or dementia, and had lower levels of functional disability. Locally integrated SSNs are recognized in the literature as being the most robust in terms of facilitating well-being and providing sufficient support to help maintain the older person in the community. This may reflect the higher levels of independence of older people able to sustain these support networks, which are then transformed into family-dependent types as their health deteriorates, but confirmation of this would require prospective studies. An improved understanding of the prevalence of different types of social networks among older people in Poland would help to guide a systematic approach to recognizing unmet needs in this population and provide crucial information in the planning of formal services.Registros relacionados: En: European Journal of Ageing : social, behavioural and health perspectives. - Cham, Switzerland [etc.] : Springer International Publishing AG, 2021-. - 13/09/2021 Volumen 18 Número 3 - 2021 , p. 345-355Materia / lugar / evento: Vejez Personas mayores Condiciones de vida Polonia Outras classificações: 931.2

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