Helping behaviours of community members towards older adults and the related factors: a cross‐sectional study

• Published in: Psychogeriatrics 2024-01, Vol.24 (1), p.117-126
• Main Authors: Igarashi, Ayumi, Matsumoto, Hiroshige, Suzuki, Haruno, Takaoka, Manami, Kugai, Haruna, Sakka, Mariko, Yamamoto‐Mitani, Noriko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Community support; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dementia; Dementia disorders; Family; Helping Behavior; helping behaviour; Humans; Older people; Original; Regression analysis; Tokyo
• ISSN: 1346-3500; 1479-8301; 1479-8301
• DOI: 10.1111/psyg.13050

Background Community members can play important roles in helping older adults in their community. This study aimed to clarify the actual situation of community members' helping behaviours towards older adults and examine the related factors. Methods This cross‐sectional study was conducted using an online survey system with a sample of 1000 community members in the Tokyo metropolitan area selected using quota sampling. Participants were asked about their experiences with helping an older adult, involvement with older adults with dementia, knowledge of dementia and care resources in the community, and perceptions regarding the community. Content analysis was used to classify participants' freely answered responses about helping behaviours, with logistic regression analysis subsequently used to examine the related factors. Results Community members provided older adults with various types of spontaneous help, including help with walking (20.0%), accident care (16.8%), giving directions to a destination (11.6%), accompanying them to a destination (12.9%), and support in daily life (10.4%). In the multinominal logistic regression analysis, advanced helping behaviours were associated with having a family member with dementia, experiences involving people living with dementia, knowledge of dementia and community support centres, and a stronger sense of community integration (P