Implications of Reorganizing the Lives of Elderly People Living Alone Discharged From a Community Comprehensive Care Unit

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to clarify the meaning of reorganizing the lives of elderly people living alone discharged from a community comprehensive care unit.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 elderly people living alone discharged from a community comprehensive care unit after being hospitalized in an acute care unit and conducted a qualitative descriptive analysis of their lives.

Results: Six categories were extracted as meanings of reorganizing the lives of elderly people living alone after discharge from the community comprehensive care unit,switching lives, affirming the past, enjoying life, regaining life, living with determination, and living with caution.

Conclusion: In reorganizing the lives of elderly people living alone discharged from the community comprehensive care unit , they reconsidered their original lifestyle and way of living after being in and out of the hospital. Moreover, they looked back on their lives to that point and, through affirmation and acceptance, lived with determination and simultaneously confronted their mortality.