Loneliness among Elderly People: Can Food and Meals Change this Situation?
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Loneliness among Elderly People: Can Food and Meals Change this Situation? Kai Victor Hansen 1 Received: 27 September 2019 / Accepted: 13 August 2020/ # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract In a relationship, it is natural that one person lives longer than the other, leading to many challenges, including the possibility of loneliness. This article focuses on how food and meals can help reduce loneliness among the elderly. There are many reasons for loneliness or emptiness, including being a widow or a widower, illness, and poverty. As the number of elderly people is greatly increasing in all welfare states, meals are an important function that should be maintained throughout life. This study used CurroCus® group interviews, or fast focus groups. Nine CurroCus® groups were conducted, lasting for 37–56 min (average = 45 min). Altogether, 76 persons participated, ranging in age from 60 to 87 years; participants were predominantly female (> 80%). The collected empirical data were recorded, transcribed, and entered into NVivo 11.0. Interviews were analysed using a grounded theory approach. The main findings of this article fall into two main categories: togetherness and life action. Based on the interpretation of respondents’ answers, elderly people make both conscious and unconscious choices that help reduce loneliness. They also gather around food and meals to experience more togetherness. In future research, loneliness strategies carried out unknowingly should be investigated more closely. In addition, elderly participants should self-report on meal activities throughout the day. Keywords Elderly . Life actions . Loneliness . Meals . Togetherness
Introduction Awareness of loneliness among today’s elderly has grown, and this article examines how they use food and meals as a method to reduce loneliness. Many different forms of loneliness exist among different groups, and existing literature has discussed a
* Kai Victor Hansen [email protected]
1
The Norwegian School of Hotel Management, University of Stavanger, Ullandhaug, NO-4036 Stavanger, Norway
K. V. Hansen
loneliness scale (Smoyak 1984), widows’ coping strategies (Gass 1987), leisure time (Chin-Sang and Allen 1991), spousal caregivers (Bergman-Evans 1994), adolescent loneliness (Antognoli-Totland and Beard 1999), and loneliness among elderly immigrant women (Kim 1999). In recent years, research on loneliness has focused on finding predictors of loneliness in the aging population (Cohen-Mansfield et al. 2016) such as sociodemographic and health factors (Prieto-Flores et al. 2011), reducing loneliness among older people (Agren and Cedersund 2020), and prevalence among older people (Victor et al. 2005). Coyle and Dugan (2012) focused on the relationship between social isolation and loneliness among older adults, and Taylor (2020) illuminated how social isolation influences loneliness in the same age group. In summary, the boundary rises between social isolation and loneliness through a lack of connection and social interaction versus a subjective problematic feeling
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