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Abstract

Gerontology & Geriatrics Studies

Senility, Loneliness and Solitude

  • Open or Close Zühal GÜLER1 and Nuran GÜLER2*

    1AİBÜ Faculty of Arts and Sciences Department of Sociology, Turkey

    2Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Health Science, Division of Nursing, Turkey

    *Corresponding author: Nuran GÜLER, Associate Professor, Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Health Science, Division of Nursing Department, 58140 Sivas, Turkey

Submission: December 14, 2017; Published: February 20, 2018

DOI: 10.31031/GGS.2018.02.000532

ISSN: 2578-0093
Volume2 Issue2

Abstract

When the relevant literature is examined, it can be stated that the concepts of loneliness and solitude are generally used together. In this study, however, these two aforementioned concepts have been considered separately and distinctively. According to TÜİK 2016 Data, the elderly population (65 years old and over) was 6 million 495 thousand 239 people in 2015. The proportion of the elderly population to the total population has increased by 4.7% from 1940 to 2015. 43.8% of the elderly population are males and 56.2% are females.

In addition to the rapid aging of Turkish people, another important feature that should be underlined is that the elderly people in Turkey live predominantly in rural areas. The loneliness and solitude of elderly people in both rural and urban areas are also increasing proportionally due to the migration from rural to urban areas, change in family structure, and etc. There is a also significant difference between the genders in terms of loneliness. As a matter of fact, according to TÜİK 2015 Data, in 2015, 76.5% of the elderly people “living alone” are women and 23.5% are men.

The theme of this study is to reveal the loneliness and solitude in senility on the axis of the rural and urban. The aim of the study is to examine the factors that contribute to the loneliness and solitude of elders such as age, gender, marital status, education, and poverty in the context of causal analysis. In the study, data collection via literature review technique, in other words secondary sources related to the subject will be utilized. In addition, the data of the project executed by Assist. Assoc. Dr. Zuhal Guler together with Assoc. Dr. Nuran Güler and Asst. Assoc. Dr. Doğancan Özsel titled “Residents in Nursing Homes: Senility in Rural Areas” and supported by TUBITAK will be used.

Keywords: Senility and ageing; Loneliness and solitude; Migration from rural to urban

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