Social issues influence an elderly person's risk and experience of illness as well as a health care practitioner's ability to deliver timely and appropriate care.

A social history helps members of the interdisciplinary team evaluate care needs and social supports. It should include questions about the following:

• Marital or companion status
• Living arrangements
• Financial status
• Work history
• Education
• Typical daily activities (eg, how meals are prepared, what activities add meaning to life, where problems may be occurring)
• Need for and availability of caregivers (to help plan care)
• Patients' own caregiving responsibilities (which may make patients reluctant to report their own symptoms lest their symptoms or any resulting interventions interfere with caregiving)

Last full review/revision September 2009 by Barbara J. Berkman, DSW/PhD; Daniel B. Kaplan, MSW