Cargando…
“What If I Die and No One Notices?” A Qualitative Study Exploring How Living Alone and in Poverty Impacts the Health and Well-Being of Older People in Hong Kong
Despite the growing number of older people who live alone and in poverty, the intersection of these two social risk factors and the impacts on older adults’ health and well-being have not been widely examined. This qualitative study explores the challenges and strengths of 47 older people who live a...
Autores principales: | , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2022
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9739217/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36497930 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315856 |
_version_ | 1784847750570967040 |
---|---|
author | Kwan, Crystal Tam, Ho Chung |
author_facet | Kwan, Crystal Tam, Ho Chung |
author_sort | Kwan, Crystal |
collection | PubMed |
description | Despite the growing number of older people who live alone and in poverty, the intersection of these two social risk factors and the impacts on older adults’ health and well-being have not been widely examined. This qualitative study explores the challenges and strengths of 47 older people who live alone and in poverty in Hong Kong. Thematic analysis was used to identify eight themes related to challenges: (i) social isolation and loneliness, (ii) self-esteem and self-efficacy, (iii) declining mobility, health and activity levels, (iv) high medical expenses, (v) age discrimination and long wait times for medical health services, (vi) age discrimination, retirement, and wanting part-time employment, (vii) not enough gender-specific social participation activities, and (viii) housing insecurity. Four themes related to strengths were identified: (i) An “I have enough” mindset, (ii) strong formal social support, (iii) contributing to the community and others, and (v) “Most of us like to be alone.” Successfully addressing poverty in old age and tackling the challenges associated with living alone will require focusing on and activating not only external and systemic resources but also the intrinsic capacities and strengths of older adults themselves. Five discussion points are raised addressing the implications for future gerontological research and practice. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9739217 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-97392172022-12-11 “What If I Die and No One Notices?” A Qualitative Study Exploring How Living Alone and in Poverty Impacts the Health and Well-Being of Older People in Hong Kong Kwan, Crystal Tam, Ho Chung Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Despite the growing number of older people who live alone and in poverty, the intersection of these two social risk factors and the impacts on older adults’ health and well-being have not been widely examined. This qualitative study explores the challenges and strengths of 47 older people who live alone and in poverty in Hong Kong. Thematic analysis was used to identify eight themes related to challenges: (i) social isolation and loneliness, (ii) self-esteem and self-efficacy, (iii) declining mobility, health and activity levels, (iv) high medical expenses, (v) age discrimination and long wait times for medical health services, (vi) age discrimination, retirement, and wanting part-time employment, (vii) not enough gender-specific social participation activities, and (viii) housing insecurity. Four themes related to strengths were identified: (i) An “I have enough” mindset, (ii) strong formal social support, (iii) contributing to the community and others, and (v) “Most of us like to be alone.” Successfully addressing poverty in old age and tackling the challenges associated with living alone will require focusing on and activating not only external and systemic resources but also the intrinsic capacities and strengths of older adults themselves. Five discussion points are raised addressing the implications for future gerontological research and practice. MDPI 2022-11-28 /pmc/articles/PMC9739217/ /pubmed/36497930 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315856 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Kwan, Crystal Tam, Ho Chung “What If I Die and No One Notices?” A Qualitative Study Exploring How Living Alone and in Poverty Impacts the Health and Well-Being of Older People in Hong Kong |
title | “What If I Die and No One Notices?” A Qualitative Study Exploring How Living Alone and in Poverty Impacts the Health and Well-Being of Older People in Hong Kong |
title_full | “What If I Die and No One Notices?” A Qualitative Study Exploring How Living Alone and in Poverty Impacts the Health and Well-Being of Older People in Hong Kong |
title_fullStr | “What If I Die and No One Notices?” A Qualitative Study Exploring How Living Alone and in Poverty Impacts the Health and Well-Being of Older People in Hong Kong |
title_full_unstemmed | “What If I Die and No One Notices?” A Qualitative Study Exploring How Living Alone and in Poverty Impacts the Health and Well-Being of Older People in Hong Kong |
title_short | “What If I Die and No One Notices?” A Qualitative Study Exploring How Living Alone and in Poverty Impacts the Health and Well-Being of Older People in Hong Kong |
title_sort | “what if i die and no one notices?” a qualitative study exploring how living alone and in poverty impacts the health and well-being of older people in hong kong |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9739217/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36497930 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315856 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT kwancrystal whatifidieandnoonenoticesaqualitativestudyexploringhowlivingaloneandinpovertyimpactsthehealthandwellbeingofolderpeopleinhongkong AT tamhochung whatifidieandnoonenoticesaqualitativestudyexploringhowlivingaloneandinpovertyimpactsthehealthandwellbeingofolderpeopleinhongkong |