Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
PLoS One. 2023 Apr 14;18(4):e0277399. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277399. eCollection 2023.
Loneliness has been shown to be a predictor of poor health and early mortality in the general population. Older men living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at heightened risk of experiencing loneliness. Here, we aim to describe the lived experience of loneliness in older men living with HIV and identify targets for intervention. We used grounded theory with a theoretical framework of narrative phenomenology to focus data collection and analysis on significant experiences related to loneliness. Based on individual narrative interviews with 10 older men living with HIV, experiences of loneliness related to "multiple losses," "being invisible" and "hiding out" as emergent themes. Participants also described living with loneliness by "finding meaning," "creating social experiences," "pursuing interests and things to 'live for'" and attending events in which "everyone is welcome." The discussion situates experiences of loneliness within the accumulation of losses and stigmas over time and how the participants strategies for living with loneliness could inform interventions to reduce loneliness in older men living with HIV at individual and societal levels.
孤独感已被证明是一般人群中健康状况不佳和早逝的预测因素。患有人类免疫缺陷病毒 (HIV) 的老年男性面临更高的孤独感风险。在这里，我们旨在描述患有 HIV 的老年男性的孤独感的真实体验，并确定干预的目标。我们使用扎根理论和叙事现象学的理论框架，将数据收集和分析重点放在与孤独感相关的重要体验上。基于对 10 名患有 HIV 的老年男性的个体叙事访谈，出现了与“多重损失”、“隐形”和“躲藏”相关的孤独感体验等主题。参与者还通过“寻找意义”、“创造社交体验”、“追求兴趣和为之生活的事物”以及参加“每个人都受欢迎”的活动来描述与孤独感共存的情况。讨论将孤独感的体验置于随着时间的推移而积累的损失和耻辱之中，以及参与者应对孤独感的策略如何为在个人和社会层面减少 HIV 老年男性的孤独感提供干预措施。
