The Elderly Person and Family Life

The relationship between an elderly person and other members of his family is worthy of study from the point of view of both young and old. The extended family, rather than the nuclear or immediate family, is the relevant unit for the majority of people including the elderly. The evidence available from industrialized societies shows that the elderly can gain considerable support during the process of ageing by being included in the modified extended family. While institutions for the elderly are undoubtedly necessary, more elderly people could remain integrated in the normal community providing family life survives and is supplemented by an active policy of home help.