1. Older Carers: Bonding, bridging & linking with social capital
Wendy Stone
Presentation to
Older Carers’ Forum 5 August 2003, Melbourne

2. Demographic, social & policy context
Demographic change
Ageing of the Australian population
Increasing diversity of older population
Smaller family units
Societal and community change
Move towards greater home-based care
Community self-provisioning and self-reliance
Policy and practice context
Towards greater recognition of needs of older carers
Social capital as part of support framework

3. Today’s talk 1. About ‘social capital’
What is meant by social capital?
Bonding, bridging and linking relationships
Who has social capital?
2. Social capital in supporting older carers
Key issues for older carers
3. Making social capital happen
How we act matters
Building social capital into what we do & future directions

4. About social capital
Social capital can be understood as networks of trust and reciprocity that can lead to outcomes of mutual benefit.
Social capital is a term that describes good quality social relationships.
Social capital can exist within and between families, friends, neighbours, communities, services and other organisations.
Social capital can link individuals, families and communities.
Social capital can lead to a range of positive outcomes.

5. A social capital framework
‘Bonding’ social capital (the informal realm) Close ties that help people to get by. These are usually with family, friends and neighbours.
‘Bridging’ social capital (the civic realm) Weaker ties that can help people get ahead and gain opportunities. Usually with people who are different from themselves, who have different types of networks.
‘Linking’ social capital (the institutional realm) Links to organisations and systems that can help people gain resources and bring about broader change.

6. Access to social capital
Individuals, families and communities can have a different ‘mix’ of bonding, bridging and linking social capital
The distribution of social capital within a community can be uneven
Different mixes of social capital can lead to different types of outcomes:
 Having the right ‘mix’ of social capital can lead to empowerment, can help people to manage their lives, achieve change, and can lead to community cohesion.
 Having low levels of social capital can result in low cooperation, obstacles to change, and social isolation.

7. Who has social capital?
We talked with around 1,500 Australians about their lives, relationships and communities
We found people have very different mixes of social capital - social capital ‘types’
Having different mixes of social capital is related to other factors such as family life, education, ethnicity, health, financial wellbeing, types of neighbourhoods and local areas
 Social capital can relate to existing inequalities
 Social capital varies across the life course

8. Late in the life course, this means…

9. For older carers… Social capital is a resource:
Links with family, friends & neighbours, civic groups and institutions (including services) are each important for managing day to day caring
Social capital can assist wellbeing:
Risks of social isolation may be increased among the older carer population, and be associated with deterioration in mental health, physical health and general wellbeing
Services a conduit to social capital:
Through service contact, other bonds can be facilitated; services become a critical point for connection

10. Making social capital happen: how we act matters
Social capital is facilitated by:
Time and resources
Commitment
Being inclusive
Sharing power and responsibility
Being local
Having respect
Being trustworthy
 Having a ‘social capital rich’ service network

11. An illustration: social capital in practice
‘Bonding, bridging and linking provide us with a framework for assessing our current work and where we might change our approach in order to meet our objective of building social capital. Historically, we’ve been reasonably good in the area of bonding - about strengthening the bonds with families and a close network through our services. Now we’re increasingly looking to see how we can create more bridges and links for individuals, families and communities...

12. Social capital in practice…
…Within this social capital and community engagement framework we can begin to ask whether our work is:
Creating trust?
Increasing the networks enjoyed by individuals and families?
Building opportunities for civic participation?
Facilitating cross-institutional co-operation?’
(Hampshire and Smeaton The Benevolent Society)

13. Fonte: