Loneliness and Quality of Life Among Elderly People

By : S. K. Srivastava, Kalpana Singh

Page No: 11-18

Abstract
Old age is a critical phase in life as much as childhood or adolescent and hence requires special consideration. Old age is considered as second childhood because both the aged and the child have to depend on others for many of their personal requirement. After the age of 60 there are so many things in life that conspire to make one’s lonely. Loneliness can be defined as a situation in which the number of existing relationship is smaller than is considered desirable or admissible as well as the situation where the intimacy one wishes for has not been realized. It can be defined as a deficit between a person’s actual and desired quality and quantity of social engagement while social isolation is the absence of sufficient opportunities for integration with individuals and groups in the social environment. Death of a spouse or old friend, separation from children as they move on to have families of their own, the loss of a home or a long-time community. The purpose of the study to see the correlation between loneliness and quality of life among elderly people. A sample of 50 elderly was taken, consist 25 males and 25 females. Correlation was found significant. Female scored high on loneliness and low in quality of life then male.

Authors :
Kalpana Singh : Ph.D student of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar.
S. K. Srivastava : Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar.