What is Old Age? Elderly’s Perception and Understanding: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

The current study focuses on the lives of the elderly people and tries to understand how they conceptualise old age and how they believe their lives to be as they get older. The study was conducted among two groups of old people—one living in their homes and the other in religious ashrams—to accomplish this goal. Participants were surveyed individually in 16 separate interviews for the data, which were then analysed using thematic analysis to provide themes. The findings indicate that, for the most part, both participant groups viewed old age as a time of physical and mental deterioration as well as changes in appearance brought on by ageing. Second, both participant groups saw this age as a time of eroding social ties. Participants also varied in how they felt about getting older. The elderly who resided in ashrams were positive and demonstrated their ability to have spiritual experiences; in contrast, the elderly who lived alone had a pessimistic outlook and believed that old age was the result of previous bad acts.