Describing reasons for loneliness among older people in Nigeria

The rural-urban migration of family members often leads to a higher probability of older people living alone, and minimizes family/social networks, which increases old age loneliness. In this study, we describe the existence of loneliness among older adults in Nigeria and its factors, aiming to inform the development of interventions for reducing old age loneliness. We adopted a descriptive phenomenological approach to the qualitative design, purposefully selecting and conducting face-to-face interviews with 12 older adults aged 58–88. We analyzed the data using a Thematic Analysis. Results of the analysis revealed three major themes: perception and existence of loneliness, factors for loneliness, and context-dependent coping strategies. We described results based on the theory of interactionist perspectives of loneliness and drew policy implications from this. Participants drew interesting associations between loneliness, decreasing family/social networks, recent family ties structures, disability-associated ageing, and lack of social programs, and suggested context-dependent coping strategies to reduce loneliness.