Structural Advantages of Good Health in Old Age

Abstract

This article tests the hypothesis that health influences older adults’ position within a defined social structure. Building on a recent synthesis of social gerontology and network analysis, good health was expected to be associated with more network constraint and less network integration—two indicators of autonomy and access to social resources and information within a network. The study was conducted within a continuing care retirement community, a unique site offering several advantages for a novel test of the health-begets-position hypothesis. Consistent with this hypothesis, residents with the best health had positional advantage in the network. Results also highlight the particular importance of good health during the initial period of community tenancy.

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