The Effect Of Family Intergenerational Support On Multidimensional Health Of Rural Elderly In China

Objective By constructing the structural equation model,this paper explores the influence of family"upward" intergenerational support on the physiological,psychological and functional health of the rural elderly,and explores the policy Suggestions for improving the health of the rural elderly.Objects and methods Using the data of the 2014 Chinese elderly health influencing factors tracking survey,1,451 rural elderly aged over 60 years old were studied.Exploratory factor analysis was used to extract latent variables and structural equation model was used to analyze the influence and mechanism of "upward" intergenerational support on different health dimensions of rural elderly.Results First,there were 1,451 cases,706 males and 745 females,with an average age of 83.65 years.There were 1126 non-residents,accounting for 77.6%,and 325 loners,accounting for 22.4%.Among them,944(65.1%)had no pension security,and 507(34.9%)had pension security.The average financial support for children/grandchildren in the past year was 3,148.15.64.2 percent of rural seniors would like to ask their children or grandchildren for help,54 percent would like to talk to their children or grandchildren and 43.1 percent would like to chat to their children or grandchildren.Children/grandchildren provided an average of 17.8 hours of daily care to the rural elderly in the past week.Secondly,the results of structural equation model show that:first,while intergenerational economic support has a direct positive effect on physiological function(P<0.05),intergenerational non-economic support also has a direct negative effect on physiological function(P<0.05).Secondly,the intergenerational economic support with physiological function as the intermediary had an indirect positive effect on physiological health(P<0.05).While care and emotional support have a direct positive impact on physiological health(P<0.05),taking physiological function as an intermediary has an indirect negative impact on physiological health instead(P<0.05).Providing appropriate economic support can improve the physiological function of rural elderly,indirectly improve their illness and reduce medical expenses.Thirdly,the intergenerational economic support with physiological function as the intermediary had an indirect positive effect on mental health(P<0.05).While intergenerational non-economic care support had a direct negative impact on mental health(P<0.05),it also had an indirect negative impact on mental health with physiological function as an intermediary(P<0.05).Economic support to improve the physiological function of the elderly in rural areas will indirectly alleviate the mental health of the elderly.At the same time,in the absence of improved care intention and support capacity,and in the absence of compliance with the needs of the elderly,more non-cconomic care support increased the psychological stress and discomfort of the elderly.In this paper,under the control of social and economic status,the explanatory power of intergenerational support to the health of the rural elderly is physiological health(10.5%),physiological function(12.4%),and mental health(30.3%).Conclusion Different forms of intergenerational support have different impacts on the multidimensional health of rural elderly.Under the condition of ensuring the economic independence of the elderly,it is beneficial to solve the health problems of the elderly in rural areas to stimulate the family intergenerational economic support and ensure the effectiveness of care and spiritual comfort support.Family,as the core of care for the elderly,has limited capacity and role,so it is necessary to build a comprehensive old-age security and support system at the national,social and family levels.