Social networks for older people's resilient aging-in-place: Lessons from the-landslide Ksunu tribe in Taiwan

The global population is aging rapidly, and this presents both opportunities and challenges. Al-though healthy aging is a critical disaster risk reduction strategy, most studies focus on older peo-ple's vulnerability in their physical, mental, and social preparation, as well as their disaster re-sponse. This study aims to explore how social networks boost older people's resilience to living with disaster risk for aging in place safely. We used a Tayal indigenous tribe, which was struck by two landslides in 2015, as a case study. We analyzed field data from participant observations and semi-structured interviews conducted from 2018 to 2020. The findings revealed that net-works comprising government units and non-governmental organizations both accelerated the aging tribe's recovery from the landslides. A local church played a critical role in the network, as it strove to gain external resources for the tribe and united it via residents' common religious be-liefs and the Tayal culture. The church also bridged government resources for the tribe, inter-weaving them into local lives to enable older people to age in place. This has transformed a solid bonding network into a mutual help network for older people in the tribe, reducing their vulnera-bility to disaster risk caused by being isolated from urban areas. We argued that the local context is the foundation of social capital-based networks to reinforce older people's resilience and to al-low them to age in place safely.

Automated summary

This study explores how social networks enhance older people's resilience in a disaster risk environment. Through a case study of the Tayal indigenous tribe, it was found that networks consisting of government units and non-governmental organizations accelerated the tribe's recovery from landslides, with a local church playing a critical role in the network.