Social relationships provide both instrumental and emotional support.
For community-resident older women with functional limitations and disability, the presence and availability of assistance from both informal and formal care providers have important implications for their continued maintenance in the community. This chapter focuses on instrumental and emotional support according to age group and disability level. Emotional support comprises the presence of a confidant and the confidant's relationship to the participant, as well as perceived adequacy of emotional support. About 15 percent of older disabled women reported receiving no assistance from others in either self-care or other routine activities. Forty percent identified one helper, and the remaining 46 percent named two or more.