1.5. Perception of Social Support
Being a social being, human beings need social support throughout life. Social support to the individual physical and psychological support provided by family, friends, neighbors and institutionsdefined as assistance. Social support positively affects the physical and mental health of individuals by meeting their social needs such as love, compassion, competence, self-esteem, and belonging to a group. The individual’s family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, relatives, the society in which the individual lives and experts. It constitutes
the social support resources of the individual. It is known that social support sources provide assistance to
individuals in different ways such as financial, emotional and mental support.
Elderly relatives and caregivers who take care of the elderly face both the difficulties of daily life and work.
They often need social support due to the difficulty of their burden. Social support has a significant impact
on an individual’s coping with stress and mental health. Overcoming stressful life events is closely related to
the individual’s way of coping with stress, as well as social support resources. With the help of the protective
effect of social support, the person experiences the negative effects of stressful life events less, interprets the
events he encounters as less threatening, and uses effective coping strategies more.
If the duty and responsibility of caring for the elderly cannot receive the necessary support, after a while the
caregiver’s mental health may deteriorate, burnout, social isolation, etc. brings risks. For these reasons, social support and preventive mental health become important. It is obvious that increasing public and socialsupport opportunities will reduce the burden of caregivers and protect their mental health. For example, it is
important for those who care for the elderly to benefit from public assistance services (such as bathing, caregiver support, help with housework) in line with their perceived caregiving burden.
Types of Social Support:
Social support can take many different forms. It is stated that social support can occur in five types, depending on the benefit it provides to the individual and how the individual perceives it. These;
1. Emotional support: It means conveying feelings of interest, love and trust. It is the support provided to the
individual by his/her immediate environment, such as being loved, liked and accepted. It includes behaviors
such as sharing problems, exchanging emotions, showing love and respect, empathy, valuing and being
compassionate. It provides individuals with the power to resist in unbearable situations caused by problems.
It comforts individuals by giving them the feeling that they are not alone and that they are valuable. It is a
factor that increases the psychological well-being of the individual.
2. Esteem support: The person is accepted as he is, with his problems and flaws.
It is the type of support in which it is shown that they are respected and their decisions are supported.
3. Financial support: It is a type of support based on providing financial aid, tools, equipment and services
that an individual needs. For example, stationery aid given to children in schools, coal aid provided by district
governorships and municipalities.
4. Informational support: It is a type of support based on providing information or teaching skills that can
help solve problems. It is the support provided by the individual when he/she encounters a problem that he/
she has difficulty in solving, and the people around him/her give him/her information about how to solve the
problem and share their experiences. It means providing information assistance to the person on the subject
he needs. Informational support is to offer new solution suggestions and a new perspective to the individual
when faced with a problem.
5. Social companionship: It is based on spending free time together. This support can reduce stress because
it makes the person perceive that he is accepted by his environment. When a person is with his friends or
family, he relaxes and his stress level decreases because he does not think about the situations that cause
problems.