[The family and the elderly]

The overwhelming majority of older people who need help and care (including those who live in one person households) regularly receive help from family members, almost exclusively from women. A study in Vienna showed that if home help services (offered by various organizations and supported by the city administration) intervene, they ameliorate the strain in the family. Time and forces gained thereby are not transformed, however, into intrafamilial communicative participation and emotional support. As a future task the better interlocking of family help and public services will have to be undertaken in order to strengthen domicile-oriented social policy for older people and provide psycho-hygienic implications.