Best friends: the role of confidantes in older women's health.

This article explores personal, network, and community contexts in older women's friendships and health. Twenty-six older women (mean age, 67; range 55-85 years) in San Francisco were asked to choose the one individual to whom they felt the closest and then discuss how this individual contributed to their health. Their choices were numerous, diverse, contextual, and circumstantial. Other women were chosen most often; however, this belies the complexity of their choices. Confidants were chosen primarily for expressive reasons, but instrumental reasons proved important too, particularly for lower class women. Older women called upon their closest ties with physical, social, and emotional problems; they were less likely to call upon them with mental, financial, or spiritual concerns. Family members were preferred to friends for direct caregiving; however, some older women felt they would call upon their friends as well. Confidants kept older women healthy by offering advice and encouragement about diet and exercise; by providing meals and transportation; by laughing, talking, and joking with them; by keeping them happy and feeling good about themselves; and, on rare occasions, by offering spiritual guidance. Practical and policy considerations of their choices were discussed.