Gerontologia e pesquisa geriátrica

Abstrato

Effect of Social Support Systems on the Psychosocial Well-Being of the Elderly in Old People s Homes in Ibadan

Oyinlola Oluwagbemiga

Aging is not entirely a negative process, but old age is undoubtedly a difficult period, worsened by the inadequacy of social institutions to care for their aged. The elderly is faced with several health and social challenges which created a gap in traditional family system that caters for the well-being of aged. It is against this background the study examined the effect of social support on the psychological well-being of the elderly in old people’s homes in Ibadan.

The study used descriptive survey research design. The sample comprised of 122 elderly within the ages of 65 years and above who were purposively drawn from three (3) old people’s homes in Ibadan that operate on residential and non-residential services. Three research instruments were used: Social Support was assessed by the adapted scale of “multidimensional scale of perceived social support” (r=32); psychological well-being was measure by adapted scale of ‘the general psychological well-being index’ (r=82); social well-being was measured by adapted scale of ‘Perceived Social Well-being Questionnaire’(r=68). The reliability of the instrument yielded r=0.84 Crobanch Alpha.

Five null hypotheses were formulated and tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significance and multiple regression was used to test the variables with magnitude effect on the psychosocial well-being of the elderly. The study established that there was a significant effect of emotional support on the psychosocial well-being of the elderly (f-cal=128.058, f-crit=2.19, P<0.05). The study also showed that, there is a significant effect of financial support on the psychosocial well-being of the elderly (f-cal=64.821, f-crit=2.19, P<0.05). Furthermore, the study established that, there is significant effect of companionship on the psychosocial well-being of the elderly (fcal= 32.506, f-crit=2.19, P<0.05), also, the study showed that, there is a significant effect of information access on the psychosocial well-being of the elderly (f-cal=120.655, f-crit=2.19, P<0.05). In terms of magnitude of effect, companionship contributed most to the psychosocial well-being of the elderly (ß=0.798; t=8.685; P<0.05), followed by information access (ß=0.609; t=6.788; P<0.05); followed by emotional support (ß=0.137; t=5.150; P<0.05) and next is financial support (ß=0.239; t=2.300; P<0.05).

The findings showed that social support (emotional support, information access, companionship, financial support) has significant effect on the psychosocial well-being of the elderly in old people’s homes. It was recommended that, there is need for the structural framework to address the complex system of the elderly services in all old people’s homes. The areas of services should include economic services, attitudes of people towards aging, establishing support groups, aged responsive library services and health care services that are responsive to the needs of the elderly.