2020 Volume 27 Issue 1 Pages 1-10
The purpose of this study was to examine how social relationships affect the recognition of preventive services for long-term frailty in community-dwelling older adults. The participants of this study were 3,058 older adults who lived in Ayase City, Kanagawa Prefecture. We collected information on the participants’ basic attributes, risk factors for long-term frailty, social relationships such as social participation, social support, and social capital, and the recognition of seven preventive services for long-term frailty in Ayase City, using a mailed questionnaire. The number of responses was 1,899. The results from 1,798 older adults (average age 75.14 years, range 6.18; 46.5% males), with the exception of long-term care certification, showed the rate of recognition of one or more preventive services for long-term frailty among participants was 39.8%. A logistic regression analysis revealed that social participation in neighborhood councils, senior citizen clubs, hobby groups, volunteer groups, and social capital as the norms of reciprocity and ongoing contact with neighbors was significantly associated with the recognition of preventive services for long-term frailty, even after controlling for socioeconomic status and several risk factors for long-term frailty. Neighborhood councils play an administrative role in assisting in communicating information on various health-care services for community-dwelling people. Senior citizen clubs are community-based organizations, and long-term frailty prevention in older adults is an important activity. Hobby groups are groups with a cohesive network in which people with a common hobby come together. Members of volunteer groups generally tend to be interested in social contribution and social welfare activities. In other words, these social activities have a common characteristic in that members are aware of issues related to themselves in their communities. The recognition of preventive services for long-term frailty is promoted by incorporating human resources that share health information in neighborhoods with social cohesion.
