Elderly women who want to live alone: lessons learned.

Housing programs should be designed to meet the personal and interpersonal needs of the growing number of older people in the population. Our understanding of these needs is based on our understanding of "normal aging," or more appropriately what makes for successful aging. Attention to what is required for that success and for quality of life is essential. It is offered that respect for individuality, autonomy, and control is central to the maintenance of identity and integrity. Attention paid to the positive poles of Erickson's view of identity in the life cycle would serve to reinforce and maintain both identity and the quality of life. Our most difficult patients, elderly women who want to live alone, have much to teach us about the struggle of the elderly to maintain a sense of self.