Practical Exploration Of Multiple Linkage In Services For The Elderly Who Have Lost Their Only Child

The emergence of the elderly who have lost their only child has its historical background and realistic factors,and the ensuing issues have drawn the attention of all sectors of society,including government departments,community residents committees,social work agencies,medical institutions,charitable organizations,community residents and enterprises,which have participated in serving the elderly who have lost their only child to solve existing problems in such services.In practice,however,it is necessary and urgent to further explore how to leverage the advantages of various subjects for effective linkage and concerted effort to provide more professional and appropriate services for the elderly who have lost their only child.This research collected data from the elderly who have lost their only child in H Street through unstructured interview,semi-structured observation and self-administered questionnaire survey.The author found that they had diverse demands,including demand for health services,demand for material support,demand for housekeeping services,demand for psychological comfort services and demand for community reintegration;however,these service demands cannot be effectively met by a single service subject.Based on these findings,the author studied,under the guidance of welfare pluralism and social support theory,how to give full play to the advantages of social work in community services.To promote the service practice led by “social work +”,the author explored service strategies for the elderly who have lost their only child based on multiple linkage to perfect service mechanism,enhance their health management ability and material support,improve housekeeping services,enhance psychological support and reintegrate them into the community.At the same time,the author evaluated the effectiveness of the implementation of these service strategies.The research found that services for the elderly who have lost their only child based on multiple linkage would require a sound mechanism and a full-scale demand assessment;multiple linkage must draw on the advantages of each subject to improve service efficiency,and social workers could intervene and provide services via multiple linkage to maximize the effects.Limitations of the research mainly include the need to further improve the accuracy and scientificity of the assessment of the elderly who have lost their only child and the uncertainty of research replicability,which require social workers to seek breakthroughs in both practice and research.