THE SOCIAL SUPPORT NETWORKS OF MALAY ELDERLY WIDOWS

Abstract

The following is an exploratory study of the social support networks of elderly Malay widows staying in rental and non-rental Housing Development Board (HDB) flats. Comparisons are made between the two groups of elderly widows, each comprising 13 respondents. The·aim is to gain an understanding of the structure, function and patterns of utilization of the available networks so as to guide the planning and implementation of programs and services for the Malay elderly widows. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the 26 respondents. It was found that there was a significant difference between the groups in terms of the informal network size. Respondents from rental flats were found to have a significantly smaller informal network base from which they could draw support. The two groups also differed in terms of patterns of utilization of formal networks. Respondents from rental flats were more likely to seek financial support from such networks while none from the other group reported doing so. Any association with formal networks for the non-rental group was religious in nature. However, where other types of instrumental support and non-instrumental support were concerned, there were no major differences between these two groups. Other factors that were found to influence the patterns of network utilization were age, availability of children and health. Conclusions are drawn based on the findings and recommendations with the aim of strengthening the capacity for informal care of the elderly Malay widows are made.