Anxiety of Older Persons Living Alone in the Community
1
The Graduate School, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 06974, Korea
2
Department of Nursing, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 06974, Korea
3
East-West Nursing Research Institute, College of Nursing Science, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Korea
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Healthcare 2020, 8(3), 287; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8030287
Received: 3 August 2020
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Revised: 19 August 2020
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Accepted: 20 August 2020
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Published: 22 August 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Care for People with Mental Illness in the Community)
Anxiety is a common mental health problem among older persons, and the prevalence is higher in those who live alone than those who live with others. This study aimed to explore the experiences of anxiety in older persons living alone. A descriptive phenomenological approach was used to collect and analyze the interview data from 15 older persons (5 males, 10 females) living alone in Seoul, South Korea. Four main themes emerged from the data analysis: fear of being alone, concern about having an aged body, apprehension mixed with depression and loneliness, and fear of economic difficulties. These findings indicate that older persons living alone should receive continuous attention to prevent them from being neglected and their anxiety from worsening. Above all, it is vital to ensure comprehensive support for older persons living alone to alleviate their anxiety.
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Keywords:
anxiety; living alone; older persons; qualitative research
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Yu, J.; Choe, K.; Kang, Y. Anxiety of Older Persons Living Alone in the Community. Healthcare 2020, 8, 287. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8030287
AMA Style
Yu J, Choe K, Kang Y. Anxiety of Older Persons Living Alone in the Community. Healthcare. 2020; 8(3):287. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8030287
Chicago/Turabian StyleYu, Jinna, Kwisoon Choe, and Youngmi Kang. 2020. "Anxiety of Older Persons Living Alone in the Community" Healthcare 8, no. 3: 287. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8030287
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