Abstract:

This paper draws on primary publications in Australian gerontology to review knowledge on ageing and support. While there is a well-established literature on family care, social networks studies of the 1980s provided more comprehensive views of expressive and instrumental support across a range of relationships. Notwithstanding strereotypes tot he contrary, older people contribute as well as receive support. A new generation of qualitative, interpretative studies are reporting on the meanings and processes of social support as experienced by the older people themselves. Policy-related studies examine social supoprt as a cornerstone for community services and epidemiological investigations eaxmines social influence on health and well-being. The field could be advanced considerably by longitudinal studies and qualitative enquiries exploring the diversity of older people in a variety of social settings.