Author(s)

Chengyang Li ¹, Shaowei Liu ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Sichuan University of Arts and Sciences, Dazhou, Sichuan, China

Corresponding Author

Chengyang Li

ABSTRACT

Rural aging is increasingly characterized by structural vulnerabilities, including eroding familial support, population hollowing-out, and insufficient formal care infrastructure, which collectively undermine the adaptive capacity and well-being of rural older adults. While mutual aid has been widely recognized as a cost-effective, community-based alternative to institutional elder care, existing scholarship often frames rural mutual aid merely as a supplementary service model, overlooking its transformative potential in fostering community resilience and empowering marginalized aging populations. Drawing on empowerment theory and the ecological systems perspective, this study explores how grassroots mutual aid practices translate into sustainable community resilience in rural aging contexts. By examining multi-level social work interventions through theoretical synthesis and logical deduction, this study proposes an integrated intervention framework that restores individual subjectivity, institutionalizes informal mutual aid networks, and reconfigures rural community ecological systems. The findings demonstrate that professional social work engagement enables a paradigm shift from passive welfare provision to endogenous community governance, enhancing rural communities' adaptive, restorative, and transformative resilience. This research contributes a contextually grounded theoretical model to the global literature on aging-in-place and community resilience, offering actionable implications for rural social service optimization.

KEYWORDS

Mutual aid; elderly empowerment; community resilience; rural older adults; social work intervention

CITE THIS PAPER

Chengyang Li, Shaowei Liu. Empowerment through Mutual Aid: Social Work Interventions for Building Community Resilience among Rural Older Adults. Journal of Sociology and Ethnology (2026). Vol. 8, No.2, 37-43. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/jsoce.2026.080206.

REFERENCES

[1] Xu, X. and Zhao, L. (2022) Social Capital and the Realization of Mutual Assistance for the Elderly in Rural Areas: Based on the Intermediary Role of Psychological Capital. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(1), 415.
[2] Zhang, Z., Su, L., Ma, Q. and Han, C. (2026) Sustained Precariousness in the Grey Space: Self-Organized Care Homes for Older Adults as Frugal Aging-in-Place Innovations in Rural China. The Gerontologist, 66(5), gnag037.
[3] Kan, W.S., Wong, Y.C. and Lou, W.V. (2025) The Challenge of Social Work-Led Case Management: A Qualitative Study of Community-based Home Care for Older Adults. The British Journal of Social Work, 55(1), 1-20.
[4] Chui, E.W.T. and Law, V.T.S. (2024) Empowerment in Old Age: A Ladder of User Participation in Social Services for Older People. Journal of Social Work, 24(4),623-638.
[5] Dai, X., Chen, D. and Zhu, Y. (2025) Can Organizational Mobilization Promote the Rural Older Adults to Participate in Mutual-Aid Care Service: A Practical Case in China. SAGE Open, 15(2),1-12.
[6] He, H. (2025) Factors Influencing Mutual Support among Older People in China: A Cross-Sectional Study. Frontiers in Public Health, 13,1-12.
[7] da Silva, E.S., Nunes, B.P., Inácio, D.T., da Silva, I.C.M., E Silva, R.C.M., Bielemann, R.M. and de Oliveira, C. (2023) Multimorbidity and Frailty in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(1), 1-14.
[8] Drolet, J.L. and Choudhury, M. (2024) Promoting Older Adults’ Engagement in Disaster Recovery Through Supportive Relationships, Partnerships, and Collaboration: Perspectives of Social Work Practitioners and Human Service Professionals. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 15(2),265-276.
[9] Wang, H. and Chen, X.Y. (2026) Promoting Productive Ageing Through Rural Mutual Support for the Elderly: Internal Mechanisms, Practical Challenges, and Optimization Paths. Chinese Rural Economy, (4), 26-47.
[10] Nie, J.L. and Guo, Y.C. (2026) Research on the Impact of Social Networks on Rural Elderly Individuals’ Willingness to Participate in Mutual-Aid Elderly Care. Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology , 40(2),102-115.

Sponsors, Associates, and Links

---

• Journal of Language Testing & Assessment
  
  
• Information and Knowledge Management
  
  
• Military and Armament Science
  
  
• Media and Communication Research
  
  
• Journal of Human Movement Science
  
  
• Art and Performance Letters
  
  
• Lecture Notes on History
  
  
• Lecture Notes on Language and Literature
  
  
• Philosophy Journal
  
  
• Science of Law Journal
  
  
• Journal of Political Science Research
  
  
• Advances in Broadcasting