“Embracing the present and fearing the future”: The meaning of being an oldest old woman in a rural area

In Western countries, the number of older people receiving home nursing care is increasing, and in rural areas they are at additional risk because of the distance between people and health care facilities. The aim of this study was therefore to illuminate the meaning of being an oldest old woman living alone in a rural area and receiving home nursing care. A sample of 11 oldest old women living in rural areas in the middle of Norway was chosen for this study. Narrative interviews were conducted, and the data were analyzed using the phenomenological hermeneutic method. After a naïve reading and a structural analysis of the text, we identified four themes: being satisfied with life, being thankful, feeling vulnerable, and feeling secure. The comprehensive understanding implied that being an oldest old woman living alone in a rural area meant living in the intersection between embracing the present in solitude and fearing the future with additional declining health. Living in this complex situation meant to enjoy the present, but still fear the future, as the oldest old women knew their present life situations were limited. This challenging emotional situation meant using their inner strength by trying to be optimistic and seeing opportunities in present life, even if losses were many and extensive. By using their inner strength in facing losses and declining health, the oldest old women managed to appreciate aloneness as solitude, and find new meaning in life.