Loneliness and Psychological Well-being of Elderly in Community

Abstract

Introduction: As one gets older, health problems also increase, one of the problems was loneliness. The phenomenon of loneliness was very important because loneliness has an impact on quality of life and psychological well-being on elderly. The purpose of this study to determine correlation between loneliness and psychological well-being of elderly living in community.Method: This was correlational study with cross-sectional approach. Total respondents were 152 elderly aged 60-70 years at Kelurahan Sananwetan Kota Blitar. This research was collected by cluster random sampling. Independent variable in this research was loneliness, while dependent variable was psychological well-being. Data was collected by using UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3 by Rusell (1996) questionnaire and Scale of Psychological Well-Being by Ryff (1989) questionnaire, then analyzed by spearman rho correlation statistical test with significance level at p ≤ 0.05Result: The result showed that value of p = 0.000 and r = -0,864 that indicate a significant negative correlation between loneliness and psychological well-being in elderly.Conclusion: Loneliness was an indicator of individual psychological well-being, this means individuals who felt loneliness would have reduced their level of well-being or happiness. Otherwise individuals who were not loneliness would be prosperous or happy in their lives. So, that nurses should support elderly person to be active. Further research should make some schedule like exercise or gardening so that loneliness would be decrease and psychological well-being would reduced.