How elderly people cope with loneliness: comparative study of coping strategies

This masters's thesis focuses on coping strategies elderly people use to cope with their loneliness. The thesis uses twenty semi-structured interviews with the elderly living in nursery home and community-dwelling elderly, which are then compared. Theoretically the thesis is based on Robert Weiss's typology of social and emotional loneliness and the current knowledge of the relationship between health and loneliness and coping strategies. The major results are that experiencing loneliness does not differ between the two selected groups, which contradicts the conclusions of previous research and that health was an important aspect in both groups. Further the thesis concludes that no relationship was found between the number of coping strategies the elderly use and their loneliness. Loneliness of the elderly in relation to the concept of coping strategies, in addition with comparassion of the elderly living in nursery home and community-dwelling elderly, is not greatly discussed topic in the Czech Republic. Thus, the master's thesis constibutes to the discussion within the Czech context on the coping strategies the elderly people use to cope with their loneliness and the differences or similarities between the two selected groups