Abstract
(Objective) A marginal community is defined as a community in which over 50% of the population are over 65 years old and faces difficulty maintaining adequate function of the residents' daily lives. Difficulties facing the marginal community can include unemployment, shopping for daily necessities, managing rural agriculture and participating in community ceremonies. This results in many people relocating to more convenient communities. This research aims to reveal the relationship between the desire for permanent living in the marginal community and the power of the community to support the elderly. (Methods and Materials) A questionnaire was administered to people over 20 years old in a marginal community through visiting all the houses in that community. The power of the community to support the elderly was measured by a 10-item Scale, the Support Power for the Elderly Scale (SPES). The SPES consists of 2 subscales: sense of power (Power Score: 6 items) and the sense of sharing community problems (Sharing Score: 4 items). The desire for permanent living when they live alone was questioned in 2 circumstances: healthy, and in need of care. (Results) Through binary logistic regression analysis, the data pointed to a significant relationship between the Power Score and the desire for permanent living in marginal communities in both the healthy and in need of care circumstances. (Conclusion) The results indicate that the feeling of empowerment in the community enhances the hopes of residents' to live permanently in the marginal community. Therefore, social workers and other professionals should endeavor to empower the community dwellers. Such empowerment can provide many other unexpected benefits and activate the marginal community.
