Social capital is becoming a well-studied social construct that establishes its relevance in uplifting the well-being and health of diverse social categories. A survey was conducted among 120 individuals aged 60 years and above who were randomly selected from the list of senior citizens in Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. In this study, the social capital of the elderly population in a rural community and its relation to their health status and health-seeking behaviors is examined. The social capital of the elderly is determined based on the following five domains—general trust, social support, social networks, social participation, and close ties. Their health status is based on a self-rated evaluation of: being free from chronic diseases in the last three months, being capable of performing daily activities, having lucid memory, and having life satisfaction. Their health-seeking behaviors are described in terms of frequency in which they rely on self-care, medical professionals, traditional medicines, familial, and non-familial support system. Results from the correlation and multiple regression analyses suggest that the elderly describe themselves as most healthy in that they are capable of performing daily activities, whereas they describe themselves as least healthy in that they experience chronic diseases in the last three months. Self-care, which includes having a healthy diet, exercise, and fun, is their top health-seeking behavior, but it should be noted that having close ties and social participation tend to determine better self-care among the elderly. Although accessing medical professionals is uncommon among the elderly, the findings indicate that the said health-seeking behavior tends to become more frequent with increasing social support. Results are relevant for identifying social innovations in the context of networks and social support that may promote better health among the elderly in rural communities.
Keywords: community social capital, elderly, health status, health-seeking behaviors, PhilippinesAvison, W., McLeod, J., & Pescosolido, B. (2007). Mental health, social mirror. Place of publication: Springer.
Bailis, D. S., Segall, A., Chipperfield, J. G., (2003). Two views of self-rated general health status. Social Science and Medicine, 56, 203-–217.
Bakshi, R. K., Mallick, D., & Ulubasoglu, M. A. (2015). Social capital and hygiene practices among the extreme poor in rural Bangladesh. The Journal of Development Studies, 51(12), 1603-–1618. doi: 10.1080/00220388.2015.1068291
Boone, D., & Boone, H. (2012). Analyzing Likert data. Journal of Extension, 50(2), xx–xx.
Cannuscio, C., Block, J., & Kawachi, I. (2003). Social capital and successful aging: tThe role of senior housing. Annals of Internal Medicine, 139(5 part 2), 395-–399.
Coll-Planas, L. (2016). Promoting social capital in an aging society: A win-win proposition? Gaceta Sanitaria, 30(5), 323-–325. doi: 10.1016/j.gaceta.2016.03.018
Crooks, V. C., Lubben, J., Petitti, D. B., Little, D., & Chiu, V. (2008). Social network, cognitive function, and dementia incidence among elderly. American Journal of Public Health, 98(7), 1221-–1227.
Durston, J. (1999). Building community social capital. CEPAL Review, 103-–118.
Forsman, A. K. (2012). The importance of social capital in later life: mMental health promotion and mental disorder prevention among older adults (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Nordic School of Public Health NHV, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Galvez, D. (2019, January 21). Philippines to have ‘aging population’ between 2030 and 2035 – CPD. Inquirer.net. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1075493/philippines-to-have-aging-population-between-2030-and-2035-cpd
Giordano, G., & Lindstrom, M. (2009). The impact of changes in different aspects of social capital and material conditions on self-rated health over time: A longitudinal cohort study. Social Science & Medicine, 70(5), 700-–710. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.10.044
Gray, A. (2009). The social capital of older people. Aging & Society, 29(1), 5-–31. doi: 10.1017/S0144686X08007617
Hogan, B., Linden, W., & Najarian, B. (2002). Social support interventions: dDo they work? Clinical Psychology Review, 22(3), 381-–440. doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(01)00102-7
Idler, E. L., & Benyamini, Y. (1997). Self-rated health and mortality: A review of twenty seven community studies. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38(1), 21-–37.
Ihaji, E., Gerald, E., & Ogwuche, C. (2014). Educational level, sex and church affiliation on health seeking behaviour among prisoners in Makurdi metropolis of Benue state. Journal of Educational Policy and Entrepreneurial Research, 1(2), 311-–316.
Israel, G., Beaulieu, L., & Hartless, G. (2001). The influence of family and community social capital on educational achievement. Rural Sociology, 66(1), 43-–68.
Kim, H. H. (2016). Examining the social capital measures associated with mental health among the Korean adult population. Asia Pacific Social Science Review, 16(2), 39-–47.
Kobayashi, T., Suzuki, E., Noguchi, M., Kawachi, I., & Takao, S. (2015). Community-level social capital and psychological distress among the elderly in Japan: A population-based study. PLoS ONE, 10(11), 1-–11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142629
Mackian, S., Bedri, N., & Lovel, H. (2004). Up the garden path and over the edge: wWhere might health-seeking behavior take us? Health Policy and Planning, 19(3), 137-–146. Ddoi: 10.1093/heapol/czh017
Miilunpalo, S., Vuori, I., Oja, P., Pasanen, M., & Urponen, H. (1997). Self-rated health status as a health measure: The predictive value of self-reported health status on the use of physician services and on mortality in the working-age population. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 50(5), 517-–528. doi: 10.1016/S0895-4356(97)0045-0
Mwase, I. (2015). Social capital and household health-seeking behavior for children in the context of urban neighborhood: the case of Khayelitsha in Western Cape, South Africa (Unpublished master’s thesis). University of Cape Town. Retrieved from https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11427/13806/thesis_hsf_2015_mwase_i_saac.pdf?sequence=1
Pang, E. C., Marsh, M. J., Silverstein, M., & Cody, M. (2003). Health seeking behaviors of elderly Chinese Americans: Shifts in expectations. The Gerontologist, 43(6), 864-–874.
Putnam, R. D. (1993). The prosperous community: Social capital and public life. American Prospect, 13, 35-–42.
Rosenthal, T. C., & Fox, C. (2000). Access to health care for the rural elderly. JAMA, 284(16), 2034-–2036. doi: 10.1001/jama.284.16.2034
Survey Research Center, Political Behavior Program. (2014). ANES 1964 time series study. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. doi: 10.3886/ICPSR35109.v1
Taylor, S. (2011). Social support: A review. In H. S. Friedman (Ed.), Oxford library of Psychology. The Oxford handbook of health psychology, (pp. 189-–214). New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press.
Tolentino, M. P. & Arcinas, M. M. (2018). Social capital of left-behind children: Determinants and association with school performance. Asia Pacific Social Science Review, 18(2), 16-–33.
Tomaka, J., Thompson, S., & Palacios, R. (2006). The relation of social isolation, loneliness, and social support to disease outcomes among the elderly. Journal of Aging and Health, 18(3), 350-–384.
Viswanath, K., Steele, W., & Finnegan, J. (2006). Social capital and health: cCivic engagement, community size, and recall of health messages. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 1456-–1460.
Wang, J. J. (2001). Prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms in the elderly of rural communities in southern Taiwan. The Journal of Nursing Research, 9(3), 1-–12.
Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994). Social network analysis: mMethods and applications. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.
World Health Organization. (2018, February 5). Aging and health. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health
Yip, W., Subramanian, S., Mitchell, A., Lee, D., Wang, J., & Kawachi, I. (2007). Does social capital enhance health and well-being? Evidence from rural China. Social Science and Medicine, 64(1), 35-–49. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.08.027