Everyday life in older men living alone – a complexview needing a biopsychosocial perspective

Abstract

Purpose: To explore how older men living alone, describe their everyday activities and their abilities as well as how they could be helped in everyday life.

Materials and methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were analysed with inductive content analysis. Eight men aged 65+ years were included. They were all living alone, albeit with home help services. They were able to walk and had sufficient cognitive ability.

Results: The analysis resulted in one theme “A driving force of managing activities and overcome hindering factors requires a broad spectrum of prerequisites for participating in everyday life” with the following four categories: Importance of everyday activities; individual prerequisites enabling everyday activities; body and mind inhibit, and react to the decreased, abilities; and importance of the environment.

Conclusions: The results generate a complex view of older men’s everyday life. It is important for older men’s independence that health care and rehabilitation staff adopt a comprehensive view and work from a biopsychosocial (BPS) perspective.

Implications for rehabilitation

To be an older man living alone might mean a decreased health and good health is a strong predictor for increased abilities in everyday activities. The living situation of older men living alone is not well studied and needs to be explored to a greater extend, especially from their own perspective.

An interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors was expressed as important for older men’s everyday life, in accordance with the biopsychosocial (BPS) model.

The expressed importance of participation as well as performing both physical and social activities reflects the need of individualised goals in rehabilitation according to the behavioural medicine approach.

It is of outmost importance that health care and rehabilitation staff in contact with this group has a comprehensive view and works from a biopsychosocial (BPS) perspective, for maintenance of the older men’s independence in everyday life.