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Spouses' existential loneliness when caring for a frail partner late in life: a hermeneutical approach.
Kristianstad University, Faculty of Health Science, Avdelningen för sjuksköterskeutbildningarna och integrerad hälsovetenskap. Kristianstad University, Research Platform for Collaboration for Health. Malmö University.
Kristianstad University, Faculty of Health Science. Malmö universitet.
Malmö universitet.
Kristianstad University, Research Platform for Collaboration for Health. Kristianstad University, Faculty of Health Science, Avdelningen för sjuksköterskeutbildningarna och integrerad hälsovetenskap. Kristianstad University, Faculty of Health Science, Forskningsmiljön Människa - Hälsa - Samhälle (MHS).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4122-3003
2020 (English)In: International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, ISSN 1748-2623, E-ISSN 1748-2631, Vol. 15, no 1Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Purpose: Spouses are in a vulnerable situation when caring for a frail partner late in life. Exploring their existential loneliness can be a way to understand more about their existential needs.Method: A hermeneutic approach was used. Multistage focus group interviews were conducted with two groups consisting of five spouses, respectively, who met three times each. To work with the text, an approach was adapted where quotations are converted into poems in a linguistic manner.Results: Existential loneliness can be understood as the following: 1) being in a transition from us to merely me, 2) being forced to make decisions and feeling excluded, 3) navigating in an unfamiliar situation and questioning oneself, and 4) longing for togetherness but lacking the energy to encounter other people. The main interpretation is that existential loneliness emerges when one is in moments of inner struggle, when one is forced to make impossible choices, when one is approaching and is in limit situations, and when one is experiencing the endless loss of the other.Conclusion: For health care professionals to achieve a holistic picture, person-centeredness can be a way to make the spouses' existential needs visible and to provide support based on their needs.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2020. Vol. 15, no 1
Keywords [en]
Existential loneliness, frail partner, hermeneutics, multistage focus group interview, poems, spouses
National Category
Health Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-20463DOI: 10.1080/17482631.2020.1734166ISI: 000517108000001PubMedID: 32116141OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hkr-20463DiVA, id: diva2:1412612
Available from: 2020-03-06 Created: 2020-03-06 Last updated: 2020-12-17Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Existentiell ensamhet hos sköra äldre personer: ett närståendeperspektiv
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Existentiell ensamhet hos sköra äldre personer: ett närståendeperspektiv
2020 (Swedish)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

The aim of this thesis was to explore existential loneliness from the perspective of significant others, to contrast their perceptions with frail older people’s experiences and to describe significant others’ and family care advisors’ views on existential support. This thesis is part of a larger research project about existential loneliness among frail older people, the LONE study. The thesis embraces three qualitative and one quantitative study. A total of 29 significant others, 15 frail older people and 120 family care advisors participated in the studies. The significant others were husbands, wives, daughters, sons, other relatives and friends to frail older people. The concept ‘frail older people’ was defined as older persons (≥ 75 years old) dependent on long-term health- or social care. The qualitative studies were based on multistage focus-group interviews (study I) and individual interviews (studies II and III). The quantitative study (IV) had a cross-sectional design and was based on a questionnaire specifically developed for the current study. Different methods to analyse data were used; hermeneutics (study I), content analysis (study II), a case study with thematic analysis (study III) and descriptive statistics (study IV). Findings from the four studies show that existential loneliness emerges when: 1) Longing for, but also striving for, a deeper feeling of connectedness, 2) Being in, but also enduring, an unwanted separation, and 3) Not finding, but still trying to recreate meaning. This thesis also shows that existential loneliness is often experienced in so-called limit situations in life and arises in difficult choices related to close relationships, in connection with experiences of meaninglessness and in the absence of connection to something or someone. The results show that existential loneliness emerges in the process of balancing between what was and what is to come in the unknown future. Significant others navigate themselves, and sometimes together with the older person, through an unfamiliar existence that makes them feel ambivalent about the de-cisions they have previously made and the decisions they need to make in the future, while also doubting the meaning in their current situation. Existential support should mainly focus on transition phases and on relational aspects. Person-centredness can be a way to make the existential needs of significant others and older people visible and to provide support based on their needs.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Malmö: Malmö universitet, 2020. p. 164
Series
Malmö University Health and Society Doctoral Dissertation, ISSN 1653-5383 ; 2020:1
Keywords
Existential loneliness, frail older people, significant others, Existentiell ensamhet, äldre personer, närstående
National Category
Nursing
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-21434 (URN)9789178770618 (ISBN)9789178770625 (ISBN)
Projects
LONE-study
Available from: 2020-12-17 Created: 2020-12-17 Last updated: 2022-12-08Bibliographically approved

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Larsson, HelenaRämgård, MargaretaBlomqvist, Kerstin
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Avdelningen för sjuksköterskeutbildningarna och integrerad hälsovetenskapResearch Platform for Collaboration for HealthFaculty of Health ScienceForskningsmiljön Människa - Hälsa - Samhälle (MHS)
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