社区社会支持对老年人心理健康的赋能机制与优化路径研究

A Study on the Empowerment Mechanism and Optimization Pathways of Community Social Support for the Mental Health of Older Adults

摘要: 在人口老龄化进程持续加速的当代中国社会，老年人心理健康问题日益凸显为一项兼具公共健康意涵与社会治理维度的重大议题。社区作为老年人晚年生活最为核心的空间场域与社会关系网络载体，其所承载的社会支持功能正在从养老服务的边缘性补充力量转变为基础性支撑力量。本研究以社会支持理论、社会资本理论与积极老龄化框架为学理基础，系统考察社区社会支持对老年人心理健康的赋能机制与优化路径。研究发现，社区社会支持通过情感慰藉、认知重塑、社会身份重建与压力缓冲四条相互交织的机制路径，构成了一个多层次、立体化的老年人心理健康维护系统。然而，当前社区支持体系在心理健康赋能方面面临着供需结构性错位、城乡资源配置失衡、专业化服务能力不足以及数字技术应用中的非均衡可达性等现实困境。针对上述困境，本文从制度供给、专业建设、网络协同与数字包容四个维度提出优化路径，以期为社区养老服务体系的心理健康赋能功能建设提供理论参照与实践指引。

Abstract: In the context of contemporary Chinese society, characterized by the accelerating progression of population aging, the mental health of older adults has increasingly emerged as a major issue with implications for both public health and social governance. As the most central spatial setting and social network carrier for older adults in their later years, the community’s function of providing social support is transitioning from a marginal supplement to a foundational pillar of elderly care services. Grounded in social support theory, social capital theory, and the active aging framework, this study systematically examines the empowerment mechanism and optimization pathways through which community social support influences the mental health of older adults. The findings reveal that community social support operates through four interrelated mechanisms—emotional consolation, cognitive reshaping, social identity reconstruction, and stress buffering—forming a multi-tiered and holistic system for safeguarding the mental health of older adults. However, the current community support system faces practical challenges in empowering mental health, including structural supply-demand mismatches, urban-rural imbalances in resource allocation, insufficient professional service capacity, and unequal accessibility in the application of digital technologies. In response to these challenges, this paper proposes optimization pathways from four dimensions: institutional supply, professional capacity building, network coordination, and digital inclusion, aiming to provide theoretical references and practical guidance for enhancing the mental health empowerment function of community-based elderly care service systems.