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Article: Illuminating the psychological experience of elderly loneliness from a societal perspective: A qualitative study of alienation between older people and society

TitleIlluminating the psychological experience of elderly loneliness from a societal perspective: A qualitative study of alienation between older people and society
Authors
KeywordsAging
Loneliness
Phenomenology
Social exclusion
Social isolation
Urban living
Issue Date2017
Citation
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2017, v. 14, n. 7, article no. 824 How to Cite?
AbstractLoneliness is a common experience among older people that is associated with health risks and negative well-being. As a psychological phenomenon, it has typically been defined in Western research literature as the discrepancy between desired and actual interpersonal relations. In our qualitative study in Hong Kong, we offer insight into ageing and loneliness in an urban environment of the non-Western world and propose to reconceptualise loneliness by exploring older people’s experience of alienation at the societal level as an important but often neglected dimension of their loneliness. Thirty-seven community-dwelling, Chinese adults aged 65 and above were interviewed in focus groups and their accounts analysed and interpreted using a phenomenological approach. Findings revealed that focus group participants perceived insufficient care for older people, a growing distance between themselves and society, and their disintegrating identity in society to be primary sources of societal alienation. In response, older people adopted a more passive lifestyle, attributed marginalisation and inequality to old age, and developed negative feelings including unease towards ageing, vulnerability and helplessness, and anger. The emergence of these key components and underlying themes of societal alienation illuminated neglected facets of the psychological phenomenon of loneliness and highlighted new implications for policy, practice, and research from a societal perspective to address older people’s loneliness in urban settings.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/313974
ISSN
2019 Impact Factor: 2.849
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.808
PubMed Central ID
ISI Accession Number ID

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorWong, Anna-
dc.contributor.authorChau, Anson K.C.-
dc.contributor.authorFang, Yang-
dc.contributor.authorWoo, Jean-
dc.date.accessioned2022-07-06T11:28:40Z-
dc.date.available2022-07-06T11:28:40Z-
dc.date.issued2017-
dc.identifier.citationInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2017, v. 14, n. 7, article no. 824-
dc.identifier.issn1661-7827-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/313974-
dc.description.abstractLoneliness is a common experience among older people that is associated with health risks and negative well-being. As a psychological phenomenon, it has typically been defined in Western research literature as the discrepancy between desired and actual interpersonal relations. In our qualitative study in Hong Kong, we offer insight into ageing and loneliness in an urban environment of the non-Western world and propose to reconceptualise loneliness by exploring older people’s experience of alienation at the societal level as an important but often neglected dimension of their loneliness. Thirty-seven community-dwelling, Chinese adults aged 65 and above were interviewed in focus groups and their accounts analysed and interpreted using a phenomenological approach. Findings revealed that focus group participants perceived insufficient care for older people, a growing distance between themselves and society, and their disintegrating identity in society to be primary sources of societal alienation. In response, older people adopted a more passive lifestyle, attributed marginalisation and inequality to old age, and developed negative feelings including unease towards ageing, vulnerability and helplessness, and anger. The emergence of these key components and underlying themes of societal alienation illuminated neglected facets of the psychological phenomenon of loneliness and highlighted new implications for policy, practice, and research from a societal perspective to address older people’s loneliness in urban settings.-
dc.languageeng-
dc.relation.ispartofInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health-
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.subjectAging-
dc.subjectLoneliness-
dc.subjectPhenomenology-
dc.subjectSocial exclusion-
dc.subjectSocial isolation-
dc.subjectUrban living-
dc.titleIlluminating the psychological experience of elderly loneliness from a societal perspective: A qualitative study of alienation between older people and society-
dc.typeArticle-
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/ijerph14070824-
dc.identifier.pmid28754027-
dc.identifier.pmcidPMC5551262-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-85025471976-
dc.identifier.volume14-
dc.identifier.issue7-
dc.identifier.spagearticle no. 824-
dc.identifier.epagearticle no. 824-
dc.identifier.eissn1660-4601-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000407370700156-

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