The Social Networks Of Older People: A Cross-National Analysis [Hardcover]

This edited volume examines the social networks of older people in nine countries from a range of perspectives in order to determine the potential of informal support structures to deliver the bulk of care in today's society. Researchers from the United States, Canada, England and Wales, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, and Israel present up-to-date analyses of support networks in each of their countries. The social policy implications of the comparative data are critically reviewed. The findings clearly suggest that social network availability is diminishing for a significant minority of elderly people. However, current practice in most countries reveals little purposive interweaving of formal services and informal networks, in order to strengthen the function of the latter and to prolong their presumed benefits.HOWARD LITWIN has published 60 articles, book chapters and research monographs in the fields of social gerontology, social networks and community-based social work./e Dr. Litwin received his DSW from Columbia University and is currently Associate Professor of Social Work at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Figures and Tables
Introduction by Howard Litwin
The Social Networks of Elderly People in Sweden by Lars Andersson and Gerdt Sundstr?m
The Lineage-Structured Social Networks of Older People in France by Claudine Attias-Donfut and Alain Rozenkier
The Elderly in Spain: The Dominance of Family and the Wherewithal of the State by François B?land and Maria-Victoria Zunzunegui
Profiles of the Social Networks of Canada's Elderly: An Analysis of 1990 General Social Survey Data by Leroy Stone and Carolyn Rosenthal
Social Network Characteristics and Social Network Types Among Elderly People in Finland by Tuula Melkas and Marja Jylh?
Support Network Measurement and Typology Development in England and Wales by G. Clare Wenger
Assessing Social Support Networks Among Older People in the United States by James Lubben al³%