Living arrangements of older adults can give some clues to the family arrangements that are the most common in America. Using data from the 2000 Census, Papalia, et al. (2002), list the following major trends:

         In 1997, 96 percent of Americans age 65 and older lived in the community,

         about one-third of them alone and almost all the rest with a spouse or other

         family members. (p. 353)

    What about those who did not live in the community? These were institutionalized older adults to be found mostly in nursing homes or hospitals.       

     Anderson (2004) suggests that families with problems may be disorganized through internal or external forces:

            1- The goals of one or more members are in opposition to system goals.

            2- The elements of organization (e.g., communication, feedback, and role

                 expectations are disrupted or unclear.

            3- Energies from within the system are not available or not sufficient for the

                demands on the system.

            4- The family is not adequately organized to obtain additional energy from

                outside its own system.

            5- The environment (the supra system) exercises a disorganizing influence

                on the family system (e.g., oppression).

            6- Energy is denied or not available from the suprasystem (e.g., unemployment

                or having welfare benefits cut off. (p. 16)

     Throughout this paper, those areas of concern will be addressed. It is easy to recognize area #3 and #4 in the poor frail elderly living in isolation. Area #5 will be seen in the fact that the aging network is not organized and is somewhat hard to access for the elderly. With the talk of changing Social Security, area #6 is on the minds of many older adults today. Within family adult caregiving, we see the importance of areas #1 and #2 to the older family.

    To keep consistent with the government’s definition, age 60 and above has been declared as an older person for this paper. According to the Older Americans Act, those persons 60 years of age and older are considered "older individuals" (Compilation of the Older Americans Act of 1965 and the Native American Programs Act of 1974, 1993, sec. 102).

     The goal of this paper is to measure the interactions of the social systems, including the family itself, that are involved with meeting the needs of these older residents. The individuals within that family definition will include not only the 60 plus year olds, but also any persons who give care to them (adult caregiving). Those things that the older adults give or those services contributed to younger people are very significant but beyond the stated purpose of this paper. Therefore, the definition of extended family members will be limited to those who actively support or give care to the older adult.

    According to Erik Erickson (Anderson, 2004, p. 252), the elderly have arrived at the time of life when conservation is of great importance. This is conservation of one’s own identity and conservation of one’s physical, emotional, and mental health. It also includes conservation of assets, such as income, to help the money last as long as the person does.

An important part of this conservation is the integration of one’s life story. It is necessary to accept all of one’s life events, including the parts that a person would rather forget, as a part of “who I am” or “who I have been” during this last major phase of life. The elderly may reach out to seek assurances that their life was worth living and had meaning to themselves and others. Family members may be able to provide critical emotional support during this time of life as may groups such as churches and other organizations that the older adult may still belong to.   

    The definitions used in this paper of an aging network are those public and private organizations and resources that may be used to satisfy the needs of the elderly public.     Like most aging organizations in America, the Davis County, Utah, Aging Network is not one large coordinated system of services, but is a broken patchwork of entities trying to reach most of the needs. In Popple and Leighninger's book (1993), they describe an aging network as one which has coordination problems and is usually inadequate in trying to meeting the full range of needs. The Davis County aging network matches that description well.

     While some elderly are independent and able to care for themselves, it must be noted that the oldest old are likely to be in need of support. Called the “continuum of long-term care,” these support measures are those services that the older individual needs to help them with their Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs). They range from in-home monitoring, homemakers services and home health care, which are the least restrictive, to institutional care such as nursing home placement, which is the most restrictive (Suppes, et al., 1991, p. 327).

     Between the extremes are community services, such as meals on wheels, adult day care, and senior centers and special housing care, such as hospice, group homes, and congregate care.