Family Care, Social Services, and Living Arrangements Factors Influencing Psychosocial Well-Being of Elderly from Selected Households in Ibadan, Nigeria
This study examined family care, social services, and living arrangements factors influencing the psychosocial well-being of the elderly from selected households in Ibadan, Nigeria. The participants for the study consisted of 280 elderly persons randomly drawn from selected households in five local government areas of Ibadan metropolis. A descriptive survey design was employed in collecting the data from the respondents. Data collected were analyzed using chi-square ( ) statistics. Results obtained indicated that significant relationships existed between family care ( , df = 12, ), social services ( , df = 12, ), and living arrangements ( , df = 6, ) and psychosocial well-being of elderly. The results implicate the need for the framework on the complex system of the elderly services. These areas of service include economic services, attitudes toward aging, roles played by the elderly, and health care services. 1. Introduction Aging is not an entirely negative process, but old age is undoubtedly a difficult period, worsened by the inadequacy of social institutions to care for the aged [1]. Some studies have found no differences among the young and the elderly on measures of satisfaction, morale, and general happiness, and some studies show that elderly have a more positive self-concept than the younger ones. Old age is often said to begin at 65, which in our society (Nigerian reference) is a typical age of retirement. In some part of the world, where life expectancy is lower, a person might be old at 35 or 40. Even in our own society (i.e., Nigeria), we see enormous variation among older people. Neugarten [2], therefore, gave the reason for this variation that “old age” is quite a long period of time, encompassing many phases and changes. Hence, he has divided older individuals into three distinct groups as follows:(i)the young-old, those between 55 and 65, who are still working and at peak of their social and vocational status in life,(ii)the middle-old, those between 65 and 75, the majority of whom are retired and in good health and who have abundant time to follow their interest, and(iii)the old-old, those over age 75, who as a group are the frailest and poorest of the old. Family care has been one of the focal points in this study. Families have been the major resource, and until very recently their responsibility for relatives was enforced morally, culturally, and through law. For instance, relative responsibility laws held adult children responsible for the support of their parents. Today, if children could not take an older parent needing care
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