Effects of Loneliness on Older Adults: A Case Study

Running Head: OLD AGE PEOPLE 0
AGeing
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[DATE]

OLD AGE PEOPLE 1
Effect of Ageing
Ageing is the inevitable and irreversible process of growing old. Ageing or aging
cannot be defined correctly, however, it is widely accepted that it is just a part of an organism
or human life cycle in which an individual born, completed his or her childhood, enter the
adolescence and at the end of adolescence they grow older and finally die. Ageing is not
disease or pathology but it may favor the emergence of various disorders such as poor
immunity, allergies, lack of energy and increased or reduced BP, respiration issues, blurred
vision, hair loss, depression, stress, and anxiety and bone problems. In this particular essay, I
will discuss the case in which a woman in my neighborhood lost her husband recently and
facing various issues like loneliness. Further, I will discussabout the personal observation,
and about the scientific researches and theories related to ageing and associated issues.
There is a woman living near my home, she is 62 years old and lost his husband 2
months before. Since then she has been living alone on her own and managing things by
herself. However, she has two daughters who are living far from her and used to visit her
once in a year. I have observed problems she has been facing after the death of her husband.
Last Monday I talked to her and discuss the issues she has been dealing with and how she
managing the problem at this age. She has also isolated from other neighbors and developed
issues like depression and stress. As a neighbor, I have always been interactive with this lady
in a polite manner, therefore, she discussed her problems with me She stated that she has
facing various issues like facing difficulty to manage daily routine works like cooking,
dusting, floor cleaning, walking, and blurred visions. She is an independent woman and
wants to manage things on her own; therefore, she does not ask her daughters to help her.
The most common she has developed is loneliness that occurs specifically after the
death of her husband. She stated that ‘we were the ideal couple and we both used to manage

OLD AGE PEOPLE 2
daily routine works together, and I was happy. His death was unacceptable for me and I still
miss him so much". By listening to her problems and observing the issues she has been facing
I can say that her main ageing issue was loneliness. As she stated in her statement that she
was really happy with her husband and feeling alone after his death, it can be said that she
must be socially isolated and thinking about her husband most of the time. This might
contribute to the development of the associated problems. Her growing age does not allow
her to do things that were easily done when she was younger. As a neighbor and I am deeply
concern about the lady, therefore observing my old neighbor, made me search various
literature articles or scientific papers for the detrimental effects of loneliness and find out the
how this affects older adults.
There are various studies has been conducted on the effect of loneliness, social
isolation on a person’s health and wellbeing. According to a report published in Mylumin
(2018), social network absence and loneliness are related to the increased risk of mortality in
people aged fifty-two or and older. Meyer and Schuyler (2009) stated that loneliness is
common among elderly people but it is also associated with the depression, cognitive decline,
poor health status, and reduced problem-solving abilities. They further reported that it
loneliness can be diminished by satisfying family relations, companionship and by
implementing some purposeful activities. According to Routasalo et al. (2006), people often
take loneliness as a shameful thing to discuss with others; therefore, it is that the individuals
feel more reluctant to agree about that they feel loneliness. On the other hand, Cohen-
Mansfield and Parpura-Gill (2007), believed that loneliness could be described as the
negative feeling that contributes to the impairment of quality of life of older adults and cause
issues such as depression.
Another study conducted by Routasalo et al. (2008), revealed that loneliness
experience among the older adults is definitely or always leads to the impaired or unfavorable