Dimensions of Social Capital and Their Impact on the Quality of Life of Caregivers for Dependent Older Persons: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

As Northern Thailand transitions into a complete aged society with an aging rate exceeding 22%, the out-migration of the working-age population has created a critical care gap, leaving family caregivers to shoulder the burden of long-term care with diminishing kin support. This study employs Path Analysis within a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) framework to evaluate the multidimensional influence of social capital on the Quality of Life (QoL) across physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains of 400 caregivers in this aging epicenter. The findings reveal that despite the challenges of aging-in-place, caregivers maintain high levels of social capital, which explains nearly half of the variance in their well-being (R² = 0.463). Crucially, while cognitive elements of trust and reciprocity are foundational, social network support emerged as the most potent predictor of QoL (β = 0.730). This confirms that in high-dependency caregiving contexts, the tangible mobilization of community networks provides a more significant lifeline than psychological perceptions alone. The validated model serves as a regional blueprint, demonstrating that the hybridization of informal community bonds and the formal Village Health Volunteer (VHV) system effectively substitute for the missing middle generation. The study concludes that for aging-in-place to be sustainable, policy interventions must pivot from generic community-building toward structural network engineering. By prioritizing active, functional support networks, policymakers can ensure the resilience of caregivers who serve as the invisible infrastructure of long-term care in an increasingly aging world.