Family support and disability among Filipino older people

Data from the 2007 Philippine Longitudinal Study on Aging (PLSOA) show at least 15 percent of older Filipinos have some level of functional disability. Functional disability measured in terms of activities of daily living (ADL) was found to be increasing with advancing age and is higher among the females than males. On the average, those who experienced some form of functional disability reported an average of 3 ADL difficulties. Among the seven ADL activities examined, older people found it most difficult standing up or sitting down and going outside/leaving the house while eating was found to be least strenuous. Our findings show various levels of severity and need of assistance among those who found difficult in performing any of the ADL tasks.

Generally, older Filipinos receive significant amount of monetary and non-monetary support from their family. This includes remittances from children from abroad. Support for older people is manifested in their living arrangements with most of the older person found to be coresiding with their children.

Study findings point to a strong association between functional health status and the level of family support received by older people. Particularly, significantly more support is provided to those who experience functional difficulty.