The Subjective Well-Being of Elderly Persons Who Live at Home Alone

Abstract

Using the phenomenological approach, this qualitative psychological research aims to understand the subjective well-being of elderly persons who live at home all by themselves. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with, and non-participant observation of three elderly women who lived at home alone. The interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) performed on the data uncovered two central themes: a) subjective well-being while living at home alone, and b) aging. The first theme had to do with factors affecting the elderly, solitary women’s subjective well-being. The second theme revolved around the problems that they faced. This research concluded that the participants enjoyed high levels of subjective well-being as a result of the fulfillment of the main contributing factors.