Evaluation of Social Isolation and Loneliness of Disabled Elderly Individuals

Abstract

Old age is defined as the last stage that human beings can reach through ageing after infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood. People in the old age stage may experience some health problems due to the physical fatigue caused by years and the life experience they have. In addition to the health problems brought by the old age stage to the elderly individual, the possibility of the elderly individual to face economic problems, problems related to care and social problems increases with the roles left in the old age process. In social life, elderly individuals are among disadvantaged groups due to the physical, economic, psychological and social problems they experience. Another disadvantageous situation that elderly individuals may encounter as they get older is the fact that they may have a disability. The fact that disabled elderly individuals are in need of care for health reasons and their socialisation areas are limited makes them the disadvantaged group that experiences social isolation and loneliness problems most deeply. In this study, it is aimed to describe and interpret the social isolation and loneliness experienced by elderly individuals with disabilities who experience two disadvantaged situations together, and to contribute to the social policies that can be created to solve the problems of elderly individuals with disabilities who experience the social problem of social isolation and loneliness with the results obtained. In this study, in which qualitative research method was used in line with this purpose, a total of 10 disabled elderly individuals over the age of 65, 5 women and 5 men, who applied to Ankara Bilkent City Hospital Health Board and had a disability health board report, were included in the scope of the research with the ‘purposeful sampling’ method, and in this context, in-depth interviews were conducted with elderly individuals with disabilities using a ‘semistructured interview form’. The data obtained through the interviews were divided into categories, and the data under the categories created were analysed by content analysis and descriptive analysis method and based on the knowledge of the literature by including direct quotations obtained from the interviews. As a result of the study, when the elderly individuals with disabilities evaluated the process related to old age; they stated that their lives were more difficult especially after having a disability and that they deeply experienced weakness, illness, neediness, desperation and loneliness as disabled elderly individuals. Within the scope of the study, it has been observed that while disabled elderly individuals live a life dependent on the caregiver, their social interaction areas, their participation in social life are limited, and they experience social isolation and loneliness problems effectively.