Concept analysis of loneliness in older adults: A hybrid model

Abstract

Background: Loneliness is an ontological structure in human existence that can occur in all stages of life. The purpose of this qualitative study was to clarify the meaning and the nature of loneliness in Iranian older adults.Methods: Loneliness in older adults was examined in three phases: (1) the theoretical phase; (2) the fieldwork and (3) the analytical phase. The hybrid concept analysis method was performed to explore the data and synthesis the findings on three key issues including attributes, antecedents, and consequences. Finally, a working definition was synthesized.Results: The critical attributes of loneliness included a variety of topics including suffering, and feeling of worthlessness. Antecedents included distal and proximal factors. The consequences of loneliness in most instances were negative and disturbing. The final definition originated from the theoretical phase and fieldwork was as follows: ‘loneliness is an unpleasant, negative, annoying, hard, scary and painful personal experience that causes feeling of despair, uselessness, hopelessness, depression, anxiety and seeing the world in black’.Conclusion: The findings from this study introduce a new definition for loneliness that includes a combination of attributes, antecedents and consequences for the concept.