Elderly people living alone

Autores

  • Raul de Paiva Santos USP
  • Aline Mara Gonçalves UNIFAL
  • Bárbara Caroliny Pereira USP
  • Tamires Marta Caliari UNIFAL
  • Wanessa Cristina Tavares Araujo ENDEX
  • Daniele Pereira Sirineu UFMG
  • Lori E Weeks Dalhousie University, Canadá.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33233/fb.v20i3.2742

Resumo

Introduction: In the last decades, a social phenomenon has emerged: the number of elderly people residing in single-person households, that is, living alone. Among these individuals are those who accumulate losses in health, social and personal life during their lifespan. Objective: To integrate scientific knowledge about elderly people living alone. Methods: It is an integrative review performed on four international databases. The theoretical reference of the Quality of Life was chosen to categorize the results. Results: After critical reading and analysis of 16 selected articles, two main themes and four subthemes emerged. The first main theme was named by "Contextualization of the Elderly that Lives Alone"; the second main theme was called "The role of family in the life of the elderly living alone". Conclusion: This age group needs a support network to maintain their quality of life; this network must encompass family members, friends, neighbors and health professionals and these must aid the elderly living alone in daily activities, travels and healthcare, among others; since the elderly living alone usually present chronic conditions, cognitive/motor deficit and higher risk of social isolation.

Key-words: gerontology, geriatrics, nursing, Physical therapy.

Biografia do Autor

Raul de Paiva Santos, USP

Docente de Pós-Graduação na Escola de Negócios e Desenvolvimento de Excelência - ENDEX, Pouso Alegre/MG.

Aline Mara Gonçalves, UNIFAL

Escola de Enfermagem. Universidade Federal de Alfenas.

Bárbara Caroliny Pereira, USP

Nursing School. University of São Paulo.

Tamires Marta Caliari, UNIFAL

Escola de Enfermagem. Universidade Federal de Alfenas.

Wanessa Cristina Tavares Araujo, ENDEX

Docente de Pós-Graduação na Escola de Negócios e Desenvolvimento de Excelência - ENDEX, Pouso Alegre/MG.

Daniele Pereira Sirineu, UFMG

Associated teacher, from  Postgraduate Program in Biosciences Applied to Health, of UNIFAL-MG.

Lori E Weeks, Dalhousie University, Canadá.

Gerontologist, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University, Canada.

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Publicado

2019-06-19