Ballin Liora, Balandin Susan
Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Australia.
J Intellect Dev Disabil. 2007 Dec;32(4):315-26. doi: 10.1080/13668250701689256.
There is a large body of research focusing on the experiences of loneliness of older adults, yet little is known about the loneliness experiences of older adults with lifelong disability. In this paper, the authors present some findings from a larger qualitative study on the loneliness experiences of older people with cerebral palsy.
Seven older adults with cerebral palsy participated in in-depth interviews. Analysis of the interviews identified overarching themes and recurrent topics in the data. These topics were coded and then grouped under the overarching themes.
Six themes were identified. All participants agreed that the themes of communication and social networks are most important when considering loneliness. In this paper, the participants' discussion of these two themes and their related topics are presented.
The results demonstrate the need to provide support and training in communication to older people with cerebral palsy who experience communication difficulty, as well as to their communication partners. They also indicate the need for policy development to assist older adults with cerebral palsy to develop and maintain their social networks and form relationships that are rewarding and enriching.
有大量研究聚焦于老年人的孤独体验，但对于有终身残疾的老年人的孤独体验却知之甚少。在本文中，作者呈现了一项关于脑瘫老年人孤独体验的更大规模定性研究的一些发现。
七名患有脑瘫的老年人参与了深入访谈。对访谈进行分析，确定了数据中的总体主题和反复出现的话题。这些话题被编码，然后归入总体主题之下。
确定了六个主题。所有参与者都认为，在考虑孤独时，沟通和社交网络主题最为重要。本文呈现了参与者对这两个主题及其相关话题的讨论。
结果表明，需要为有沟通困难的脑瘫老年人及其沟通伙伴提供沟通方面的支持和培训。它们还表明需要制定政策，以帮助患有脑瘫的老年人发展和维持其社交网络，并建立有意义和丰富充实的关系。
