“It's day to day problems:” Experiences of people with aphasia who live alone

Abstract

Purpose: Living alone is increasing and associated with health and social risks. Aphasia compounds these risks but there is little research on how living alone interacts with aphasia. This study is a preliminary exploration of this issue. Method: Five people with aphasia who lived alone participated in two supported semi-structured interviews, with the second interview including sharing an artefact that held significance for living alone with aphasia. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed through reflexive thematic analysis. Result: Four themes encompassed meaning-making about living alone with aphasia: relationships and reliance on others; risk, vulnerability, and uncertainty; loneliness and time alone; self-reliance and the need to keep busy. Participants had to continuously manage and renegotiate daily challenges around living alone with aphasia. Conclusion: Living alone increases the risk of loneliness. For people with aphasia, the buffer against loneliness provided by social connection and meaningful activity may be more difficult to achieve because of communication challenges. While experiences vary, reliance on others, managing practical and administrative tasks, and negotiating risks are all important issues when alone. The intersection of living alone, loneliness, and living with aphasia needs more research, and more explicit clinical focus when discussing and planning intervention and support.