title: [The elderly with cognitive alterations in the context of poverty: a study of the social support network].
abstract: The objective of this study was to analyze the structure and role of social support networks for the elderly with cognitive alterations, who lived in a context of high or very high social vulnerability, and identify the associations between the characteristics of the networks and functional capacity. The participants were 38 aged individuals living in a context of high or very high social vulnerability whose score on the Mini-Mental State Examination was below the cut-off point. All ethical considerations were observed. The following were administered: Mini-Mental State Examination, Convoy of Social Support, Katz Index, and Pfeffer Questionnaire. The results show that the elderly participants have a large social network, with most members in their inner circle, but only a few of the members play functional roles. A correlation was observed between the gender variable and the number of social network members. No significant correlation was observed between network characteristics and the functional capacity of the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Gerontologia, Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brasil. tabatta_renata@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Tábatta Renata Pereira
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: de Brito
authors.forename: Reijane Salazar
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Sofia Cristina Iost
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Pavarini
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support