A Study On The Social Support Network Of Family Caregiver Of The Empty Nest And Disabled Elderly In The Urban Community

With the continuing aging of population process in China,the elderly suffering from high incidence of chronic diseases,which leads to the increasing number of disabled elderly.At present,most of the disabled elderly still rely on the care of family members.The long time and heavy tasks for caring,caregivers often face multiple pressures of economic,physical,psychological,family and social level.They often feel physical and mental fatigue,miserable.However,at present there are few concerns and support for the family caregivers of the disabled elderly under the circumstances of imperfect welfare policies for the disabled elderly and their caregivers in our country.From the perspective of social support theory,this paper attempts to use the case study method,the family caregivers of 12 empty nest and disabled elderly of W project of Q community in Xiamen as the research objects.It intervenes in the social support system of family caregivers,understand their living conditions and their current difficulties.It links up social work services with social support to explore how to provide professional services for caregivers,how to support family caregivers,and to explore whether the social support theory involved in caregiver support system is feasible.Thereby,it would alleviate the pressure of caregivers,enhance the capacity of caregivers,and building social support systems for family caregivers.The study found that family caregivers of the disabled elderly faced multiple pressures and would take the caring work as their whole life.At the same time,the social support of the caregiver is not optimistic,lack of formal social support,lack of communication and integration within and between the formal and informal support.The content of the social work intervention in this paper mainly focuses on the"professional technical support" part,that is,how to link "formal support","quasi-formal support" and "informal support" and help family caregivers of the empty nest and disabled elderly build social support network through "professional technical support".In the process of the study,it links the practical intervention with social support theory,integrates the values,skills and methods of social work for the elderly into the family caregiver service,with a view to help and contribute to the field of caregiver services for the disabled elderly.