An Examination of Loneliness Among Elderly Canadian Seasonal Residents in Florida

Abstract

As part of a larger study focusing on different facets of the lives of 2,731 older Canadians who seasonally reside in Florida, we investigated primarily the extent of family and friendship contacts and the loneliness expressed by these older Canadians. The data were collected using a questionnaire that was distributed and returned by mail. The sample was taken from the subscription list of a newspaper in Florida that was a subsidiary of a large Canadian newspaper. The results show a population that was relatively young, married, in generally good health, and with rather extensive contacts with family and friends while residing in Florida. Nevertheless, more than a fifth indicated they were at least somewhat lonely. Results, using discriminate function analysis, showed that those more lonely were younger, female, less educated, not married, in poorer physical health, had fewer Florida friends, and had more children who lived near them in Canada, but fewer children who lived near them in the United States. Implications of the results are discussed.

An Examination of the Effects of Self-Rated and Objective Indicators of Health Condition and Economic Condition on the Loneliness of Older Persons

“…Reports have shown female Canadian seasonal residents in Florida to be more lonely than their male counterparts (Mullins, Tucker, et al, 1989). Gender, however, was not predictive of loneliness among older Swedes (Mullins et al, 1988).…”

“…Health, variously defined, consistently and historically has shown a relationship to the general emotional well-being of older persons (Larson, 1978). There is considerable consistency in loneliness research indicating a strong association between poor health and greater loneliness (de Jong-Gierveld, Kamphuis, & Dykstra, 1987;Mullins, Sheppard, & Andersson, 1988;Mullins, Tucker, Longino, & Marshall, 1989).…”

“…Research findings show little consistency in whether feelings of loneliness generally change with advancing age. Research by Mullins, Tucker, et al (1989) showed that loneliness increased with age among retired Canadian seasonal residents residing in Florida. This relationship seems to be strongly related to living alone and having fewer friends (Mullins, Woodland, & Putnam, 1989).…”

Urban and Regional Demographic Trends in the Developed World

“…There is a growing literature on the increasing phenomenon of seasonal migration by the young retired population in North America (e .g . Hogan, 1987 ;Martin et al, 1987 ;Marshall and Longino, 1988 ;Mullins et al ., 1989 ;Longino, 1990) . Anecdotal evidence suggests that this phenomenon is also well developed in Europe, where it involves much international movement from northern Europe to the Mediterranean `sunbelt', but so far there is little hard information on this .…”

“…Among these are the problems faced by individuals, for instance the loneliness of those who migrate on a seasonal or more permanent basis to new areas as documented by Mullins et al (1989), and the difficulties of daily mobility and access to facilities encountered by those who move into more rural areas and then become too frail to drive a car (Gant and Smith, 1991) . There is also an expanding literature on the extent to which the elderly can rely on support from friends and relations, including the effect which the residential histories of parents and children have on their distance apart (Warnes, 1986), on the implications of this for the frequency of intergenerational visiting (Warnes et al, 1985), on the social relationships of the elderly (Warnes, 1987a ;Marshall and Longino, 1988), and more generally on changes in the living arrangements of the elderly as they age (Grundy, 1989) .…”