ABSTRACT

This study aimed to explore and gain insight from the dialogue and subjective perception of older people about loneliness and social support using a cross-cultural approach. A total of six focus groups with 43 community-dwelling older adults were conducted in two different cultural contexts: the Spanish and the South African. Data were analysed around two key topics — loneliness and social support — using methods of thematic analysis. Findings around the topic of loneliness showed that participants from both countries agreed that loneliness was a subjective feeling and a negative experience. Besides, solitude emerged in the focus groups discussions as a pleasant and desired experience. As for social support, the lack of it was seen as the most frequent risk factor for loneliness. Differences among both countries were found on the key sources of social support. Spanish participants identified the family as the major source of social support, while among South African participants the community was presented as a main source of social support. We concluded that considering these cultural aspects and social support perceptions when developing programmes and strategies aimed at alleviating loneliness may lead to an increase in the effectiveness of these kinds of interventions, and thus to more positive outcomes.

摘要

本研究旨在使用跨文化方法探索老年人对孤独和社会支持的对话和主观看法，并从中获得洞察力。在两种不同的文化背景下，总共有 6 个焦点小组，其中 43 名住在社区的老年人：西班牙人和南非人。使用主题分析方法围绕两个关键主题——孤独和社会支持——分析数据。围绕孤独主题的调查结果表明，来自两国的参与者都认为孤独是一种主观感受和消极体验。此外，在焦点小组讨论中出现的孤独是一种愉快和理想的体验。至于社会支持，缺乏社会支持被视为孤独感最常见的风险因素。两国在社会支持的主要来源上存在差异。西班牙参与者认为家庭是社会支持的主要来源，而在南非参与者中，社区被认为是社会支持的主要来源。我们得出的结论是，在制定旨在减轻孤独感的计划和策略时，考虑这些文化方面和社会支持观念可能会提高此类干预措施的有效性，从而产生更积极的结果。