| Abstract: | This paper brings together a range of Australian material concerning family support for the aged. From a review of studies dealing with the family structure of the aged and accounts of inter generational contact and supportive exchanges within families, including migrant families, considerable evidence of family support is found. The implications of the absence of such support are seen from data on the use of services and admissions to institutional care; the preventive effect of marriage and family is apparent, those aged without family being identified as most at risk. Reasons for the commonly held view of family breakdown are then examined and some suggestions for service development outlined. |
