The impact of living alone on older people's attitudes to health
https://doi.org/10.31660/1993-1824-2023-3-24-34
Abstract
Today there are a number of works devoted to the study of the health of older people and the particularities of their lives with various chronic diseases. In sociological research, the issue of loneliness among older people is considered separately from the issue of health. Older people's loneliness is often studied as an imposed condition rather than a conscious choice. In this study, our goal was to analyze the understanding of older people's loneliness and possible health problems of older people living alone in both urban and rural areas. The aim of this article is to consider the characteristics of everyday health care for older people in everyday life. The research method is semi-structured interviews with older people living separately in St. Petersburg and in villages of the Republic of Karelia. The method used to analyze the interviews is thematic. The main results of the work are the key issues highlighted in the study in relation to the daily life of older people and the impact of loneliness. The article shows that older people's main concern is mental health and how to maintain it, as well as the importance of communication and interaction in improving mental health. The results of the study make it important to revise some ideas about the concept of active longevity, as well as the need for a special approach and planning of social policies with a focus on those older people for whom loneliness is a conscious choice. It is important to maintain mental health and support physical health for such older people.
About the Author
K. A. Galkin
Sociological Institute of the RAS — Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Konstantin A. Galkin, Candidate of Sociology, Associate Professor, Senior Researcher
St. Petersburg
References
1. Klinenberg, E. (2014). Going Solo: The Extraodinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone. London, Penguin Books, 284 p. (In English).
2. Rogozin, D. M. (2013). Pyat' knig o liberal'nom tolkovanii odinochestva v starshem vozraste. Psikhologiya zrelosti i stareniya, (2), pp. 59-66. (In Russian).
3. Pokrovskiy, N. E., & Ivanchenko, G. V. (2008). Universum odinochestva: sotsiologicheskie i psikhologicheskie ocherki. Moscow, Logos Publ., 408 p. (In Russian).
4. Rashidova, T. R. (2012). Odinochestvo cheloveka: filosofskoantropologicheskoe osmyslenie problem. Avtoref. diss. … kand. filosof. nauk. Moscow, 19 p. (In Russian).
5. Zhuravlev, I. V., & Tkhostov, A. Sh. (2002). Fenomen otchuzhdeniya: strategii kontseptualizatsii i issledovaniya. Psikhologicheskiy zhurnal, 23(5), pp. 42-48. (In Russian).
6. Leontiev, D. A. (2011). The existential meaning of loneliness. Ekzistentsial'naya traditsiya: filosofiya, psihologiya, psihoterapiya, (2(19)), pp.101-108. (In Russian).
7. Kolesnikova, G. I. (2015). Phenomenon of Solitude: concept, classification, existential meaning. Fundamental research, (2-9), pp. 2024-2027. (In Russian).
8. Prokhorova, M. V. (2007). Fenomen odinochestva pozhilykh lyudey: sotsiologicheskiy analiz. Avtoref. diss. … kand. sotsiol. nauk. Nizhniy Novgorod, 26 р. (In Russian).
9. Elutina, M. E., & Trofimova, O. A. (2017). Lonely living arrangements and coping with loneliness in old age. The Journal of Social Policy Studies, 15(1), pp. 37-50. (In Russian). DOI: 10.17323/1727-0634-2017-15-1-37-50
10. Sinelnikov, A. B. (2018). Family and Marriage: Crisis or Modernization? Sociological Journal, 24(1), рр. 95-113. (In Russian). DOI: 10.19181/socjour.2018.24.1.5715
11. Mead, M. (1980). Loneliness, autonomy and interdependence in cultural context. The anatomy of loneliness. New York, International Universities Press, рр. 107-120. (In English).
12. Kozyreva, P. M., & Smirnov, A. I. (2020). Loneliness: age features. Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya, (9), pp. 56-69. (In Russian). DOI: 10.31857/S013216250009617-1
13. Holmén, K., Ericsson, K., & Winblad, B. (2000). Social and emotional loneliness among non-demented and demented elderly people. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 31(3), pp. 177-192. (In English). DOI: 10.1016/S0167-4943(00)00070-4
14. Lu, J., Zhang, N., Mao, D., Wang, Yu., & Wang, X. (2020). How social isolation and loneliness effect medication adherence among elderly with chronic diseases: an integrated theory and validated cross-sectional study. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 90. (In English). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2020.104154
15. Ruslin, R., Mashuri, S., Rasak, M. S. A., Alhabsyi, F., & Syam, H. (2022). Semi-structured Interview: a methodological reflection on the development of a qualitative research instrument in educational studies. IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME), 12(1), pp. 22-29. (In English). DOI: 10.9790/7388-1201052229
Review
For citations:
Galkin K.A. The impact of living alone on older people's attitudes to health. Proceedings from higher educational institutions. Sociology. Economics. Politics. 2023;16(3):24-34. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31660/1993-1824-2023-3-24-34
Views:
11
Email this article 