Formal and informal social support networks for poverty reduction of the elderly and their family

Abstract

This article is the result of a study that investigated the perception of the elderly and their families about formal and informal social support networks, which contribute to reducing poverty. A qualitative study was carried out under a phenomenological approach. Twenty-two older adults, 3 men and 19 women, aged between 60 and 89 years, two caregivers and an administrative person from the institution in Neiva (Huila) participated. Focus groups and in-depth semi-structured interviews were applied as information gathering methods. The data was analyzed by means of content analysis.

The main findings were framed under three categories established according to the theoretical review and that led to the achievement of the proposed objectives: perception of aging, structure of social support networks and family dynamics and perception of support social networks, with the obtaining four emerging categories: poverty beyond the economic concept, between the spiritual and emotional as a support network and the resignification of work in the elderly as an option. The analysis and discussion of the results was approached from the ecological model of Bronfenbrenner, one of the most representative theories to explain how the different social groups influence the life of the individual, conceiving the human being as the center of an organized and hierarchical group within the social environment with which it interacts, the issue is addressed taking into account the affectations and protective factors of the ontosystem, microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem.

Key Words: perceptions, supportive social networks, elderly, poverty, family.