Social support groups for the elderly: A methodological proposal for development and assessment

Abstract

Most of the literature on social support stresses the positive effect of social support groups on the improvement of the participants' quality of life. However, there are few references to the ways in which these groups function. This project has two main objectives: first, to explain the procedure and structure of the work carried out in the development of the support groups, and to assess the results; second, to assess the effect of these groups on participants' perception of their social support. The results
show that the elderly feel satisfied with their participation in the groups and there was a clear increase in the perception of social support after the participation. Therefore, the instruments have proved to be useful to pro,fessionals in the field in their attempts to follow the evolution of the group.