Social support for elderly people over 65 years in Spain

Aims To determine what social support is available in Spain to people over 65 who also dedicate hours of their time to the care of others who are older. Background Demographic and social changes are leading to growth of the population. The social support available to older people in the final stage of life affects their health. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted involving the records of older, non-institutionalized individuals residing in Spain, obtained from the European Health Survey of 2014. The method of collecting information used in the European Survey was personal interviews assisted by a computer. Results The records of 6520 older people were studied; 40.1% of the participants studied had expressed the possibility of having three to five people available in case of a serious problem, and 83.6% reported that the rest of the people around them were very interested in what happens to them. With respect to care, only 7% of the older people studied mentioned performing care tasks. Conclusions Social support is beneficial to older people, regardless of whether they perform care tasks, because it acts as a protective factor against problems such as loneliness, stress and depression. The profile of a primary caregiver in this age range is a married, middle-class woman with primary schooling who is caring for a first-degree