Reducing neglect and improving social support for older people following a self-help group in the poor urban community of Jakarta, Indonesia

Increasing age has an impact on the decline of organ function and results in increasing dependence on others, including family. Efforts must be made to increase older adult's' independence to help them overcome naturally occurring changes and health problems. This research aims to determine the effects of the self-help groups as nursing interventions using guidelines of selfhealth monitoring and management on the incidence of neglecting and the social support of older people. A quasi-experimental design was used on a total sample of 208 people, consisting of 103 in the intervention group and 105 in the control group. An independent t-test was conducted before and after the intervention model to analyze the social support variable, and chi-square test was applied to analysis the neglect variable. The results showed the effects on the incidence of neglect of older people, and there were significant differences between and within the intervention and control groups (p < 0.05) in terms of social support. The intervention model demonstrated reduction of the incidence of neglect and an increase in social support. The results indicate that this program can be used as a guideline for health care center nurses in fostering self-help groups for older people in the community.