80歳以上独居女性高齢者における食物活動に対する認識

抄録

Objective: To clarify how elderly women living alone, who were 80 years of age or older, define food activities in their life courses and how they perceive current food activities.

Method: The participants were 12 women living alone who were over 80 years old. A semi-structured interview was conducted from August to December 2016 with the consent of the participants. Their conversations were recorded and the verbatim records were analyzed using M-GTA (Modified Grounded Theory Approach).

Results: 63 concepts, 15 categories, 2 sub core categories and 1 core category were extracted. Food activity was recognized as a role of the wife and mother. Participants also affirmed their role in the main stages of life. However, as they moved to living alone, they re-evaluated the role they had accepted, and realized that they had moved to activities that were valuable, meaningful, and feasible to them. They were also aware that they had accepted social connections through food activities.

Conclusion: Elderly women have accepted the connection with society through food and have changed the meaning and content of food activities according to their individual lives.