Social Support System of the Elderly Living Alone

本研究观察了独居老年人的社会支持系统。该调查于1992年在大坂府的川内长野市进行。研究对象为本市户籍系统登记的1,223名独居老人。在列出的受试者中，485例因与他人同住、居住移动或死亡而被排除。在其余738名受试者中，对627名受试者完成了家访访谈。虽然独居老人被认为是社会孤立和心理孤独的，但本研究的结果表明，这种形象是错误的。约70%的受试者有成年子女，并与分居的子女、兄弟姐妹和亲戚以及邻居保持频繁联系。基于这些接触，受试者有可用的非正式社会支持来源。

Social support system of the elderly living alone was observed in this research project. The survey was conducted in Kawachi-Nagano City, Osaka Prefecture, in 1992. The subjects were 1,223 elderly living alone registered in the residents registration system of the city. Among the subjects listed, 485 were excluded because of co-residence with others, residential movement, or death. Among the remaining 738 subjects, home-visit interviews were completed for 627 subjects. The response rate was 85.0%.Although the elderly living alone are imaged as socially isolated and psychologically alone, the results of this research showed such images are wrong. About 70% of the subjects had adults children, and maintained frequent contacts with their children living apart, siblings and relatives, and neighbors. Based on these contacts, the subjects had available sources of informal social support.