Goswami Sourav, Deshmukh Pradeep R
Department of Community Medicine, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
Indian J Palliat Care. 2018 Oct-Dec;24(4):465-471. doi: 10.4103/IJPC.IJPC_51_18.
This study is done to explore the various changes and problems faced by the "elderly people staying alone" and how they cope up to maintain their life amidst the physical, familial, social, and financial crisis in their lives.
This qualitative study was carried out in the villages surrounding Bhidi Rural Health and Training Center, located in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. A triangulation of free listing and pile sorting exercise was used. Elderly >65 years of age of either sex, living alone in their own houses, for at least 2 years were included in the study. Twenty-four such individuals were selected purposively who could figure out the different words and concepts regarding the three domains of our study for the purpose of line listing, namely, change of life since staying alone, problems faced while staying alone, and how they cope up with the problem of living alone. The data were analyzed using Anthropac software. The study findings were presented to the participants, who later pointed out few recommendations to be made.
The "elderly staying alone" face the problems of lack of family, social, and financial support in their day-to-day life. They cope with these problems by a number of ways. Although there are a number of government schemes to protect the elderly, none of these policies are dedicated to this special group of elderlies.
There is no social structure that can take care of this vulnerable group of elderlies in rural India. It is high time for the government to step in to bring some societal and familial reforms that will safeguard the elderly staying alone from the ongoing familial, social, and financial hardship.
本研究旨在探索“独居老人”所面临的各种变化和问题，以及他们如何在生活中的身体、家庭、社会和经济危机中应对以维持生活。
本定性研究在位于马哈拉施特拉邦维达巴地区的比迪农村健康与培训中心周边村庄开展。采用了自由列举和分类排序相结合的方法。研究纳入了年龄在65岁及以上、独自居住在自己家中至少两年的男女老人。有目的地选取了24名这样的个体，以便他们能找出与我们研究的三个领域相关的不同词汇和概念，用于列线表，即独居后的生活变化、独居时面临的问题以及他们如何应对独居问题。使用Anthropac软件对数据进行分析。研究结果呈现给参与者，随后他们提出了一些建议。
“独居老人”在日常生活中面临缺乏家庭、社会和经济支持的问题。他们通过多种方式应对这些问题。尽管有许多政府计划来保护老年人，但这些政策都没有专门针对这一特殊老年群体。
在印度农村，没有社会结构能够照顾到这一弱势群体。政府早就应该介入，进行一些社会和家庭改革，以保护独居老人免受当前家庭、社会和经济困境的影响。
