Seniors Living Alone
Challenges and Coping Mechanisms
Introduction
The seniors are the aged people in the society. There are various criteria for identifying the age of a person above which they enter the category of aged people. In the United States, the cut off age is sixty-five years. According to the statistics bureau, there are more than 55 million people in the United States who are above the age of 65 (Minkler, 2019). This represents 16.9% of the population, which means that in every seven people, one individual is aged. There are many challenges that senior people face in their daily life, especially if they live alone. The challenges are caused by the decreased activeness that comes with their old age. Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory puts this group of people at the last stage of development (McLeod, 2018). The last stage is ego integrity and despair, which is the final stage of the development theory. In this last stage, people start contemplating their lives and can have a feeling of despair if they did not achieve their life dreams. Their productivity is slowed down, and they can only explore life as retired people. Health issues related to old age also start crawling in their lives. It may become difficult to perform some tasks, such as doing the laundry or other simple tasks (McLeod, 2018). From these challenges, they develop mechanisms to cope with them because they have no other person to help them. This essay will focus on the challenges faced by senior people living along and the mechanisms they have developed over time to deal with the situation.
Challenges Faced by Senior People Living Alone
Out of the 55 million older people in America, 26% of them live alone. More than 70% of the people living alone are women, while the rest are men (Minkler, 2019). As they grow older and older, they start losing the ability to do some of the things they used to do by themselves. Routine activities also become a challenge. Immunological Theory of aging states that the immune system of a human body is programmed to decline over time (Ramaswamy, 2019). This exposes the older people to vulnerabilities resulting from infectious diseases. The theory lays the foundation for most of the challenges experienced by seniors. Some of these challenges are discussed below.
Loneliness and Lack of Companion
Loneliness is one of the most common challenges faced by seniors, especially if their children have moved away from home, and they are no longer able to drive or if their spouse has passed away (Minkler, 2019). The older generation is known to belong to the old school, and therefore they do not embrace social media as a way of life. Social media can drive away loneliness as you get to talk to other people and discuss many issues together. The gradual change of life to isolation is exceptionally difficult to deal with. This is why caregivers find it essential to offer seniors companionship. Lack of companionship and loneliness among the seniors is known to cause serious health problems such as depression and other psychological issues.
Tripping or Falling
Falling has been noted to be one of the common scenarios experienced by the older adults reported in health facilities (Elliott, Painter & Hudson, 2019). As an individual advances in age, they become more vulnerable to tripping and falling. This s because their legs become week and find it difficult to have stability when walking, especially in an unsafe environment. You find that most seniors continue to live in homes which they used to live at their young age. The houses were not built for old people, and therefore entrances to various rooms are constructed with stairs and steep ramps. This makes it unsafe for the seniors since they can easily fall as they try to climb the stairs. The lighting is some parts of the compound is sometimes not sufficient for their aging eyes, and thus it becomes a risk for them to walk in those places. Due to the loss of a firm grip on the ground, seniors can even trip and fall on a wet floor or rugs. Therefore it becomes risky and dangerous for seniors to live alone. Apart from falling, the seniors may find it challenging to get up after falling or even alert someone for assistance. This puts their lives in extreme danger since if they fall and get injured away from the telephone they may have to stay in that position until a Good Samaritan comes to rescue them. There have been cases of older people who have fallen and died in their houses, only their bodies to be discovered after some days. Hence it is precarious for seniors to live alone, and it is not even advisable.
Inability to Complete their Routine Duties
Getting the basic errands accomplished is a big challenge for seniors living alone in their homes (Lim & Kua, 2011). The inability to complete their daily chores crawls in slowly as they age, and therefore they may not notice their inability. This will cause them to strain their body’s past limits, which is both dangerous and unhealthy. Cooking, laundry, and taking a shower may seem easy, but as someone ages, it becomes difficult to perform those tasks. Outside chores such as grocery shopping and honoring appointments can even be impossible with time. For these seniors to survive at such a stage, there is a need for assistance from caregivers of family members to help them live at least a comfortable life.
Remembering Medication
Most seniors usually experience many health issues that come with old age. This means that they are usually under medication in their later years. However, due to fatigue from daily chores or mental illness, the seniors may find it difficult to remember some essential things such as medication. These medications are vital for their health and require to be taken with a strict schedule. Failure to observe the schedule may lead to adverse health problems, which might be life-threatening (Waugh, 2009). For example, an asthmatic senior who forgets to use an inhaler may have it rough, even costing him or her life. Therefore, it requires the care of an external caregiver to help these seniors with such sensitive issues like medication. Losing of memory among the aged people is not something new, as is illustrated in the Programmed Longevity Theory of aging (Ramaswamy, 2019). This theory considers aging as a sequential switching on and off of particular genes in the body. When switching on and off, the seniors lose their memory, and it becomes hard to remember simple things such as medication.
Preparing Nutritious Meals
The seniors need to eat a balanced diet to maintain a healthy life. However, most of them find it challenging to prepare a balanced and nutritious meal by themselves (Porter, 2007). They may also lack the interest to cook, which can cause dangerous effects on their health. When they lose morale to cook, they are likely to make unhealthy lifestyle choices such as living on snacks or light innutritious foods. Considering their failing health issues, eating unhealthy foods can fasten their days on earth since their bodies will not be able to fight the diseases.
Coping Mechanism for Seniors Living Alone
For seniors living alone, loneliness becomes part of their lives. These people lack sufficient company, and therefore life becomes difficult for them. This situation is explained in the Disengagement Theory of aging, which demonstrates that there is an inevitable process where the relationship between individuals and other people in society is severed (Ramaswamy, 2019). Those relationships which remain are altered in quality, and therefore an aged individual is likely to experience loneliness in their old age. For this reason, there are mechanisms developed to help seniors who live alone and cope with their lives. These mechanisms help them to live better lives and create new relationships in society.
Some of the best mechanism which can be used by the seniors to make their life better and meaningful are discussed below.
Volunteering
Retirement is supposed to offer an individual with time for rest after active service in the public service. Most people retire at 65 years where the old age is believed to start, and therefore they are supposed to take a break from work. However, retirement is a hazardous abrupt change in an individual’s lifestyle and can be dangerous (Lim & Kua, 2011). The change from working five or six days a week to zero is a change that not many people are usually prepared to face psychologically. It may feel amazing for the first few months of being free, but as time progresses, it becomes boring, and loneliness creeps in. The individual starts missing his or her colleagues at work, but it is not possible to go back to your workplace. This is where volunteering comes in to help these individuals. The Activity Theory of aging states that retirement is harmful, but it can be less harmful if the individual actively maintains other roles (Ramaswamy, 2019). Volunteers offer the seniors to provide their services to the community and therefore remain active. These new roles make the individual meet new people in the society and especially your age mates. Involving yourself in new activities also helps you to keep off illnesses such as dementia and stress (Waugh, 2009). Providing services to support the local people or charity is a positive way of contributing to the community’s welfare and have something you can be proud of.
Meeting up with Friends
Friends are a source of motivation, and it is always something good to meet them and catch up on what has been happening in their lives. Therefore seniors should arrange meeting their friends to avoid feeling lonely and experiencing depression (Lim & Kua, 2011). A fortnight event or a dinner with friends is enough to keep all the seniors involved from feeling lonely. These events also allow them to share their experiences after retirement and provide each other with emotional support. If the meetups are planned within an organized group, then each member can take a turn to host the others on a predetermined schedule such as weekly or monthly, whichever they choose. The meetups can also be a place to make new friends since some of the people you meet there are new to you. Getting a new circle of friends is encouraging and gives individuals more friends he or she can turn t when faced with challenges.
Clubs and Groups
Joining local clubs and groups in the community is the best way for seniors living alone to avoid feeling lonely (Schoenmakers, Tilburg & Fokkema, 2012). Most of these clubs run throughout the week and provide the seniors with an opportunity to get a place where they can associate with other people rather than stay at their homes alone with no one to speak to. It is also another opportunity to meet up with new people in the society and make new friends. This will ensure that the seniors have fewer periods of loneliness at their homes. Some of these clubs include arts and crafts, lunch clubs, church choir, senior swimming, and many other clubs for seniors.
Getting a Pet
Getting a pet such as a dog can reduce the loneliness experienced by seniors at home. Being with a pet gives an individual a company that they can play with and go shopping together (Schoenmakers, Tilburg & Fokkema, 2012). They can also try dog walking as a hobby. Walking with your pet can allow you to explore the things around you and get to know your environment better. A pet allows senior access to pet owner’s clubs as they receive instructions on how to care for the pet. This is a way of gaining new friends who help you to fight loneliness.
Allotment
Activities like growing vegetables can help a senior to avoid the feeling of loneliness, but how? It is not growing; instead, it is the interactions with other farmers and owners, which helps drive away loneliness (Lim & Kua, 2011). Allotment creates the necessity to live the house and care for vegetables. By so doing, an individual meets other people and socialize with the farmers. An added advantage is that seniors can exercise and keep fit during farming activities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, seniors living alone will always face challenges, no matter the types of coping mechanisms they apply. It will always come to a time where even the simplest essential chore in the house becomes a challenge to accomplish leave alone, going outside the home. The best way for seniors to live a comfortable life is through having a care service provider who can help them to perform the basic chores and give them company in their vulnerable days. The senior should acknowledge Professor Imre Nagy of Debrenchen University, who came up with the Membrane Theory of Aging (Ramaswamy, 2019). It states that as individual ages, the cell membrane becomes less watery and more solid, impeding the individual’s efficiency in conducting routine activities. Hence the seniors should get help from family members or the various caregivers in society.
References
Porter, E. J. (2007). Problems with preparing food reported by frail older women living alone at home. Advances in Nursing Science, 30(2), 159-174.
Waugh, F. (2009). Where does risk feature in community care practice with older people with dementia who live alone? Dementia, 8(2), 205-222.
Minkler, M. (2016). Critical perspectives on aging: New challenges for gerontology. Ageing & Society, 16(4), 467-487.
McLeod, S. (2018). Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychological Development. https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
Ramaswamy, B. (2019). Theories of Ageing. https://www.physio-pedia.com/Theories_of_Ageing
Schoenmakers, E. C., van Tilburg, T. G., & Fokkema, T. (2012). Coping with loneliness: What do older adults suggest? Aging & Mental Health, 16(3), 353-360.
Rokach, A., Orzeck, T., & Neto, F. (2014). Coping with loneliness in old age: A cross-cultural comparison. Current Psychology, 23(2), 124.
Elliott, S., Painter, J., & Hudson, S. (2019). Living alone and fall risk factors in community-dwelling middle age and older adults. Journal of community health, 34(4), 301.
Lim, L. L., & Kua, E. H. (2011). Living alone, loneliness, and psychological well-being of older persons. Current gerontology and geriatrics research, 2011.