The present study examines the relation between perceptions of quality of life and of family support among elderly people according to their level of social vulnerability and other sociodemographic characteristics. Interviews were conducted with six groups of 25 elderly people (N = 150), one group for each level of vulnerability, in a mediumsized municipality in São Paulo state, Brazil. The instruments used were: the Family Support Perception Inventory, Quality of Life in Alzheimer's disease and the Brazilian Family Economic Classification Checklist. Statistically significant correlations indicate that levels of social vulnerability are directly related to socioeconomic measures, as expected, but also to perceptions of family support (total, consistent-affective, of adaptation and autonomy) and of quality of life.
Vulnerability; Quality of Life; Family Relations; Elderly People; Aging
