Informal support resources for vulnerable elderly persons: can they be counted on, why do they work?

The issue of informal support system resiliency is analyzed for approximately 700 vulnerable elderly persons in a variety of communities (e.g., urban age-segregated housing, ethnic urban age-integrated community, rural age-integrated, etc.). These samples, while geographically specific, are diverse, and a case can be made for generalizing the conclusions originating in this study to the larger population of vulnerable elderly persons in this country. There is a reexamination of the following questions: 1) Do informal support systems generally exist for vulnerable elderly persons; 2) Are significant levels of help being given by these helpers? An examination is also made of the following questions: 1) Can we depend upon these informal systems to continue to provide care now being given, and to respond to new needs that may arise in the future; 2) How is this helping behavior initiated? Within this study, the vulnerable elderly persons were generally found to have informal support systems characterized by active communication. The central role of the informal system is the transmittal of knowledge. Network members pick up information about the individual in regular ongoing communication of a noninstrumental character, interpret this information, act in ways that are responsive to the individual's needs, and are generally prepared to continue to act as new needs arise.