Ageism and loneliness in the subjective perceptions of elderly people from nursing homes and households

Background
Ageism and loneliness in old age are largely dependent on the social causes that force elderly people to seek long-term care in nursing homes.

Objectives
To study and assess the phenomenon of ageism and the experience of loneliness based on the perceptions of elderly people from nursing homes and households.

Material and methods
Elderly people (42 women and 20 men) aged 65+ (76,0 ± 5,24) years were examined. Group I included 29 people living in a nursing home, while group II included 33 people living in households. The levels of ageism were evaluated according to the Fraboni scale, while the experience of loneliness was evaluated based on the UCLA method.

Results
We found that the level of ageism was classified as neutral in 80% of the respondents and did not differ significantly in the groups. Only the classification “alienation, avoidance” in the Fraboni scale was expressed more in group II (p < 0.05). Group I informants were twice as likely to experience a high level of loneliness (p < 0.05). For respondents from nursing home, a high level of loneliness was facilitated by the phenomenon of the closed structure of institutions of social services. For those living in households, the experience of loneliness was more typical in connection with the manifestations of ageism in the form of gerontostereotypization, discrimination and especially alienation-avoidance.

Conclusions
Manifestations of ageism and loneliness were identified among the elderly in both groups and each have their own characteristics. The high level of loneliness and ageism among the elderly should be considered as factors contributing to the emergence of psycho-emotional disorders.