Daily Life Experiences Research Articles

Rationale and Challenges for a New Instrument for Remote Measurement of Negative Symptoms.

There is a broad consensus that the commonly used clinician-administered rating scales for assessment of negative symptoms share significant limitations, including (1) reliance upon accurate self-report and recall from the patient and caregiver; (2) potential for sampling bias and thus being unrepresentative of daily-life experiences; (3) subjectivity of the symptom scoring process and limited sensitivity to change. These limitations led a work group from the International Society of CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology (ISCTM) to initiate the development of a multimodal negative symptom instrument. Experts from academia and industry reviewed the current methods of assessing the domains of negative symptoms including diminished (1) affect; (2) sociality; (3) verbal communication; (4) goal-directed behavior; and (5) Hedonic drives. For each domain, they documented the limitations of the current methods and recommended new approaches that could potentially be included in a multimodal instrument. The recommended methods for assessing negative symptoms included ecological momentary assessment (EMA), in which the patient self-reports their condition upon receipt of periodic prompts from a smartphone or other device during their daily routine; and direct inference of negative symptoms through detection and analysis of the patient's voice, appearance or activity from audio/visual or sensor-based (eg, global positioning systems, actigraphy) recordings captured by the patient's smartphone or other device. The process for developing an instrument could resemble the NIMH MATRICS process that was used to develop a battery for measuring cognition in schizophrenia. Although the EMA and other digital measures for negative symptoms are at relatively early stages of development/maturity and development of such an instrument faces substantial challenges, none of them are insurmountable.

College Students' Adaptations of Activities and Experiences During the Pandemic Occupational Disruption.

During life disruptions, people adapt their activities responding to environmental stressors, resulting in new routines that support well-being. To explore college students' daily life experiences during the pandemic. Thirty students completed three time-use diaries, and responded to a survey on activity change during Coronavirus Disease 2019, satisfaction with social/leisure occupations, and well-being. Survey questions, duration of activities, and levels of were analyzed across 3 days. Exercise, school, socializing, and work were the most changed, often eliminating the activity, or modifying the activity, social context, or location. Time-use data indicated participants engaged in similar types of activities compared with nonpandemic times, but experienced different levels of pleasure and productivity related to some activities. Participants adjusted their activities/experiences to support their well-being. Examination of students' occupations and experiences uncovered the dynamic interaction between all levels of context-the macro (pandemic) and the micro (place to study).

ANALISIS PRODUK DIGITAL SANTRI SEBAGAI MEDIA DAKWAH PONDOK PESANTREN SUNAN DRAJAT LAMONGAN DALAM MENSYIARKAN NILAI-NILAI KEISLAMAN

In this millennial era, technology has become a tool where people use it as reference material, especially on the internet. The internet as a medium for distributing information has now become almost a reference for all people, especially Indonesian people. Sometimes information that is not necessarily true is disseminated. One of the digital technologies currently developing is social media. In its use, social media can be used as a medium for preaching in the modern era. This research aims to: Find out the concept of Santri Digital Products as a da'wah medium for the Sunan Drajat Lamongan Islamic Boarding School in broadcasting Islamic values and to find out the da'wah messages contained. This research uses a descriptive qualitative approach to describe Santri Digital Products as Da'wah Media for the Sunan Drajat Lamongan Islamic Boarding School in Broadcasting Islamic Values, by means of data collection techniques, analyzing data, interviews, observations in terms of the daily life experiences of the subjects studied. The results of this research are the concept of digital santri products, namely preaching using digital santri products, namely audio-visual content which is the same as the characteristics of digital products, namely that they do not have a physical form, can be accessed anywhere, are easily changed and updated, and are available in various forms. with different features. Apart from that, the concept of da'wah displayed is the selection of material, the use of relatively relaxed language, and explaining the benefits and advantages.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH ON CANCER RISK BEHAVIORS AMONG OLDER NIGERIAN MEN

Abstract Despite the growing cancer incidence and mortality rate in Nigeria, there exists prevalence of imminent and aggressive stage of cancer diagnosis among Nigerian men due to cancer risk behaviors and lack of cancer preventive behaviors such as early screening. This adds to the increasing rates of cancer disparities in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. Research links social determinants of health (SDOH) to myriad of cancer outcomes including cancer detection and prevention behaviors. To contribute to our understanding of the complexity of cancer risk behaviors, this cross-sectional study aimed to determine the relationship demographic (age, education, employment, income), health (cancer knowledge, cancer beliefs, illness attitudes) and social determinants of health (health insurance, public health infrastructure, rural vs. urban dwelling) have on cancer risk behaviors among older Nigerian men (N=411, age 50+). Results show a significant association between SDOH and cancer risk behaviors. Lack of insurance, absence of health infrastructures, and rural dwelling were correlates of cancer risk behaviors. Also, cancer beliefs, illness attitude, income, and employment had significant relationships with cancer risk behaviors. Our findings point to the detrimental effects of these factors on the fight against cancer disparities. Understanding the mechanisms by which older Nigerian men experience health, requires efforts in identifying constructs that influence their daily-lived experiences and their impact on health-related behaviors. Our data can inform global health actions to eliminate cancer disparities at the individual, organization, and government levels.

Figuring Out Life After Covid-19: a Qualitative Study From Sweden.

To obtain a deeper understanding of the daily life experiences of working aged people during the year following hospitalization due to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), with a focus on function-ing in daily life and return to work. An explorative qualitative study using individual interviews. A purposive sample was selected of persons who had received inpatient hospital care, had been discharged approximately 1 year previously and were of working age. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 participants (9 men, 2 women). The interviews were transcribed and analysed with inductive thematic analysis. Four themes were identified. Navigating health, with or without support from healthcare, was described as challenging when managing consequences of COVID-19. Participants struggled with a lack of energy that interfered with daily life. It was a trial-and-error process trying to use familiar strategies in new ways to manage. The return to work process was facilitated by own strategies and support. This study contributes increased knowledge of everyday life experiences of people 1 year following hospitalization due to COVID-19. The lack of energy and a struggle to manage health while navigating the healthcare system emphasize the importance of strengthening personal and organizational health literacy to facilitate the recovery process after severe COVID-19.

The Roles of Daily Stressor Control and Social Determinants of Health in Executive Function and Episodic Memory Performance

AbstractBackgroundStudying modifiable psychosocial contributors to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) is crucial to inform approaches for ADRD prevention, especially among those with less education, lower neighborhood quality, and heightened discrimination. These three social determinants of health confer increased ADRD risk. Perceived control is an important psychosocial resource for cognitive health. Most prior work, however, focuses exclusively on global aspects of control, ignoring influences of more dynamic aspects of control over specific experiences in daily life, such as daily stressor control.MethodWe used data from the Midlife in the United States study and the National Study of Daily Experiences (N = 1,651, Mage = 62.09, SE = 12.11, 56.65% Female) to address this gap and examine the roles of daily stressor control and social determinants of health in cognitive performance. Over 8 consecutive days in the second and third waves of data collection, respondents reported their perceived control over stressors they had experienced. Respondents also completed assessments of education, neighborhood quality, perceived discrimination, and a telephone‐based battery of tests measuring executive function (EF) and episodic memory (EM). We employed multilevel modeling to assess associations of daily stressor control and social determinants of health with cognitive performance.ResultEF was higher among people with more education and those with less perceived discrimination (ps<.001), but was not related to daily stressor control (p>.05). Greater daily stressor control, more education, and better neighborhood quality was related to better EM (ps<.05). A stressor control by discrimination interaction showed that greater stressor control was associated with better EM among those with comparatively less perceived discrimination (p<.01).ConclusionDaily stressor control may serve as a psychosocial resource for cognitive health, but the strength of its relationship with cognitive performance varied by perceived discrimination. Promoting stressor control may be beneficial for cognitive health among those with comparatively less perceived discrimination, but more research is needed to clarify psychosocial resources that could buffer against the impacts of heightened discrimination on cognitive health disparities in the US. Future work should examine longitudinal relationships to clarify the predictive utility of stressor control for cognitive health and the daily mechanisms that may explain these associations.

The auditory phenotype of behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia

AbstractBackgroundPatients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia commonly exhibit abnormal hedonic and other behavioural responses to sounds, however hearing dysfunction in this disorder is poorly characterised. Here we addressed this issue using the Queen Square Tests of Auditory Cognition (QSTAC) – a neuropsychological battery for the systematic assessment of central auditory functions (including pitch pattern perception, environmental sound recognition, sound localisation and emotion processing) in cognitively impaired people.MethodThe QSTAC was administered to 15 patients with behavioural variant frontotempoal dementia, 24 patients with comparator dementia syndromes (primary progressive aphasia and typical Alzheimer’s disease) and 15 healthy age‐matched individuals. Participants also had pure tone audiometry to assess peripheral hearing function and a comprehensive general neuropsychological assessment.ResultAfter accounting for nonverbal executive and peripheral hearing performance, patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia showed deficits of environmental sound and auditory emotion recognition and sound localisation, compared both with healthy controls and patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia were further differentiated from primary progressive aphasia patients on their performance across QSTAC (sound recognition and localisation) subtests.ConclusionBehavioural variant frontotemporal dementia has a distinct phenotype of auditory cognitive dysfunction which likely contributes to the hearing alterations that many patients with this diagnosis experience in daily life. Our findings call attention to an under‐recognised issue in frontotemporal dementia that warrants further clinical interpretation and the development of management strategies tailored to real‐world acoustic environments.

Exploring impacts of resettlement and upgrading on the urban poor's daily lives in a second tier city in India

This article intends to understand the impact of resettlement and upgrading in the context of Coimbatore, a second-tier city in India. It aims to explore the effects of these housing policies on the urban poor's daily lives and lived experiences by data triangulation. It describes these effects concerning residents’ social networks, livelihoods and commute, infrastructure and maintenance as well as process participation.Most concerns raised for both resettlement and upgrading – such as destruction of livelihoods and social networks - that have so far primarily been investigated in bigger cities, are found to also apply for housing projects in this second-tier city. To a certain degree, location is an exemption here as three of the four investigated colonies are located near the city center, thereby enabling most of their residents to walk to work and many amenities. Public land in such a central location was thus available to the Urban Local Body (ULB). However, this land was found to be of low quality and rather unsuitable for construction. Overall, the lack of agency vested in residents during planning and implementation gravely contributed to several different projects’ deficiencies.

Daily experiences and close relationships incarcerated youth: Perspectives of inmates and prison staff

The current qualitative study investigated youth’s adaptation to imprisonment through their daily life experiences and close relationships from a deprivation theory perspective. To that aim, we recruited 18 to 21-year-old Turkish men (n = 30) incarcerated for violent, property, or sexual offenses and the staff (n = 13) employed in the same high-security prison unit. We ran six focus group interviews with the youth and two group interviews with the staff at the prison in May 2019. Staff focus groups were separate for security guards (n = 7) and service providers (n = 6). The emergent themes from youth group interviews indicated social deprivation factors, including stigma and discrimination, estrangement with peers, longing for the family, and building closer relationships with siblings and parents via family visitations. Youth also endorsed non-parental adults in prison as essential sources of financial, social, and emotional support in adaptation to prison and referred to their newly established peer relationships as kinship. Youth anticipated experiencing stigma following their discharge, especially in close relationships. Prison staff reported negative attitudes about youth, families, and peers. Contrary to the youth's reports, prison staff interpreted the youth's close relationships as toxic; they blamed families for the youth's suffering and perceived their new relationships with peers and non-parental adults as 'deviancy training.' The findings demonstrated the ambiguity and precarity of relationships with significant others during incarceration, youth’s struggles to adjust to the prison context, and the dynamics of forming new close relationships with cellmates. Intimate relationships could be sources of distress but also support for incarcerated youth.

How work impacts health and smoking practices among sexuality and gender minority young adults

ABSTRACT While work has been established as an important social determinant of health, it remains understudied in health inequities research. Although work has the potential to both promote and harm health, this analysis focuses on the health-compromising elements of work in a sample of sexuality and gender minority (SGM) young adults in the San Francisco Bay Area who participated in a study investigating nicotine and tobacco (NT) use practices. Survey and interview data were collected from 100 participants ages 18–25 who reported current or former NT use. In-depth qualitative interviews explored their experiences of daily life, social identities and beliefs about structural oppression, practices of NT use, and perceptions of health and wellbeing. A thematic analysis of the narratives highlighted the centrality of work to daily life. Participants described how work structured time and became a site of daily exploitation. They also identified the structural barriers that shape employment opportunities for SGM young adults, compromising health, and shaping NT use. Results elucidate the harmful practices embedded in daily work and the inequities within the structure of work itself, underscoring the need to shift focus away from individual behaviors like NT use and towards the structural factors that perpetuate health inequities.

Thailand’s 2020–2021 Pro-Democracy Protests: Diversity, Conflict, and Solidarity

Beyond its popular characterisation as an “anti-monarchy youth movement,” Thailand’s 2020–2021 pro-democracy movement brought together a diverse range of agendas, including feminism, poverty, and education reform along with shared political demands. This article explores these different agendas, their relationship to the protests, and their implications for the collective identity of democracy protestors. Drawing from 17 in-depth interviews with protestors, it was found that the protests were not only a platform to express political positions but also for pedagogical socialisation, where protestors learned about different social issues and the struggles of other protestors. These processes led them to understand authoritarianism and democracy with a structural lens, where in addition to authoritarian government and the monarchy, the protestors aim to uproot various institutions exercising practices or cultures resembling that of the authoritarian regime. Their understanding of democracy was similarly expansive, going beyond parliamentary politics to accommodate issues within their daily lived experience. The protestors retained a sense of solidarity by conceiving of democracy as necessarily entailing a diversity of views and subsequently disagreements and conflicts. The protestors’ structural approach means the 2020–2021 protests were unique and a novel development from previous protests in Thailand.

Being siblings of children with visual impairment

This is a qualitative study that gives voice to 33 siblings of children with visual impairment in care at the Robert Hollman Foundation, focusing on their relationships with their brothers/sisters. Participants aged 7 to 22 recounted their daily life experiences and perspectives, expressing their feelings during semi-structured individual interviews. Data were analyzed according to the thematic analysis in the conceptual framework of ‘the new sociology of childhood’. The vast majority of siblings showed a special relationship with their brother/sister, characterized by unconditional love and willingness to help. Different emotions, such as happiness, empathy, sorrow and sadness, were expressed as well as how the experience of being siblings of children with visual impairment shapes their attitudes, highlighting a number of needs in some of the subjects.

Social Construction of Population Policies and Problems in Iran Since 1963

: Population has been and continues to be a significant matter of concern and contention in Iran. A range of different claims-makers, with varying dramas, ideologies, resources, rhetorical strategies and schemas have made claims that name and frame the population problem in particular ways to influence policy processes, and the experiences, meanings, and practices of people in everyday life. As a result, since 1967, mainly in post-revolutionary Iran, there has been the rise and fall of contesting narratives of the population as a social problem. Drawing on theoretical insights from social constructionism, we track these debates. In particular, we are interested in how claims-makers use rhetorical strategies and mobilize resources to convince others and to influence policy processes through social problem games and works. In other words, we examine the claims-making activities around the population as a social problem over the last half-century in Iran, showing how an understanding of these activities can enrich our understanding of definitional processes. We also discuss how certain discourses, policies and social constructions of population and family planning have become dominant and have influenced cultural meanings, popular images and the daily life experiences of people, particularly women and their prospects of reproduction and motherhood, for the most part, in the shadow of interpretations of Islamic Sharia law enforced since the 1979 Revolution. Building on the constructionist analysis and interoperation of contesting anti-natalist and pronatalist claims and policies over the last half-century in Iran, this article highlights how images of population problems are constructed socio-culturally with actual impact on individuals’ everyday lives in society, and how people find ways to respond, resist and counter the dominant discourses and policies about family planning, population and reproduction and family. Hence, the contesting claims, definitions and discourses around population have not been merely abstract points of debate, but they have penetrated the emotions, memories, relationships, prospects and practices of people in Iran. The results reveal that there are several existing and emerging dialectics, paradoxes, and uncertainties on population policies and problems at multiple levels, with each of these definitions having key insights and implications for policy-related scientific research (science), the policy process and its outcomes, reproductive prospects and the practices of people (public).

Illuminating the daily life experiences of adolescents with and without ADHD: protocol for an ecological momentary assessment study

IntroductionAdolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at elevated risk of a range of difficulties, among which emotion regulation, peer and co-occurring mental health problems are prominent challenges. To better support...

The Experience of Being Alive Through Poetry

It is viewed that poets and poetry readers mostly come to a disappointing idea from the community’s belief proclaiming poetry’s death and that poetry is in vain and it is a waste of time. Readers and poets keep wondering intensely that, if so, then how do their souls still recall the inspirational world of imagination? How do their souls travel into an imaginative world of thoughts creating a piece of art through some words that are of daily life experiences? William Wordsworth's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, for instance, connects humanity and nature to make life more meaningful. The natural world provides human beings bliss, enabling them to overcome life challenges such as loneliness. The poet obtains happiness from the dancing daffodils and overcomes his loneliness. This togetherness between humanity and the natural world aids the poet in overcoming the challenges. The poem uses poetic devices, especially figurative language, that demands the readers to recall their experiences to understand them better. Like Campbell, Wordsworth has a positive view of the natural world because it enables the speaker to deal with sadness. Therefore, artists should acknowledge the significance of discourses while writing poems. The community, in addition to that,is called to reconsider their beliefs and observe that it is through poetry that our souls get nourished and call our daily life experiences. This study examines former beliefs to prove that poetry is the experience that keeps our souls alive.

Experience of Daily Life with Generalized Myasthenia Gravis: A Qualitative Investigation and Assessment of Instrument Content Validity.

Generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) is a rare autoimmune disease. Symptoms of gMG are diverse, and understanding of their impact on patients is limited. This qualitative study aimed to provide an in-depth exploration of patients' daily experiences of gMG. Published qualitative studies were reviewed to identify the most important signs, symptoms, and functional impacts related to the patient experience in gMG. Semi-structured hybrid concept elicitation interviews (allowing spontaneous generation of disease concepts) and cognitive debriefing interviews (assessing the validity of existing disease assessments) were conducted with clinicians and adult patients with gMG. Signs, symptoms, and impacts were reviewed to understand which were most salient (i.e., reported by at least 50% of patients, with disturbance rating 5 or higher [10-point numeric scale]); concept saturation was also assessed. The disease conceptual model was updated. Existing clinical outcomes assessments (COAs) that capture how patients feel, function, and survive were assessed. Interviews with patients (n = 24) identified seven new signs and symptoms and 37 new impacts compared with the literature. Concept saturation was reached. Signs and symptoms identified by patients as most important (salient) were shortness of breath, general fatigue, muscle weakness of arms, legs, and neck, dysphonia, dysarthria, trouble swallowing liquids, choking, and heat sensitivity. Patient-identified salient impacts were worklife, depression, difficulty walking, grooming hair, showering, and brushing teeth, eating, personal relationships, family life, and participating in social activities. Clinicians considered ocular, respiratory, swallowing, speech/talking, and extremity function as key clinical manifestations of gMG. Patients and clinicians found clinical outcome assessments (COAs) to be conceptually relevant and comprehensive. This research provides a holistic understanding of gMG signs, symptoms, and impacts experienced by patients, as observed by patients and clinicians. The conceptual model of gMG highlights the range of signs, symptoms, and impacts that adult patients with gMG experience in their everyday lives, emphasizing the humanistic impact and unmet needs.

A diarized journey: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the older person’s lived experience of a hip or knee replacement within a fast-track programme

BackgroundFor the older person living with end-stage hip or knee osteoarthritis, a hip or knee replacement can be a traumatic event, influencing the physical, physiological, psychological, social and economic facets of daily living. This interpretative phenomenological study aimed to reveal and interpret the daily lived experiences of the older person before, during and after a primary total hip or knee replacement surgery in a fast-track programme in South Africa.MethodsA qualitative interpretive phenomenological study, collecting data through solicited diaries and reflexive member validation interviews from seven participants aged 65–75 years, who underwent a primary elective hip or knee replacement surgery. The surgical fast-track process and data collection process happened simultaneously. Data collection from the solicited diary started before surgery, continued during the surgery process and finished six weeks after surgery and this was followed with reflexive member validation interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used throughout the three phases of the fast-track programme.ResultsThree superordinate themes developed during the three phases of surgery: “The holistic impact of pain on daily quality of life”, “Finding ways to cope”, and “Transition between independence and dependence and back”. Although former research confirms the physical impact of osteoarthritis on the older person and the success of fast-track programmes for subsequent hip and knee replacements, this study contributes to the holistic impact of the surgery on participants’ daily lives. The diarized journey of individuals through the psychological, psychosocial, physical, professional, and spiritual experience are described and interpreted in this study.ConclusionsAcross the solicited diaries, it was clear that pain as catalyst impacted the daily activities of the individual physically, psychologically, and psychosocially. Pain was subjectively present at different intensities during all the phases of the replacement surgery, impairing mobilization and triggering roller-coaster emotions. In order to cope with physical and emotional difficulties while preparing and adjusting to the environment, participants reflected on social support, physical and professional support, and spirituality. Throughout the preparation, hospitalization and the recovery process, the transition between independence, dependence, and back to independence was significant, reinforcing the individual’s determination to recover.

Cripping the Archive: Analyzing Archival Disorder in the Yamashita Family Archives and Karen Tei Yamashita’s Letters to Memory

This article outlines a crip archival analysis of Karen Tei Yamashita’s creative family memoir Letters to Memory (2017) and the separate Yamashita Family Archives; the analysis revolves around the concept of disorder. The book and digital archives move the daily lived experience of incarceration out of chronological order, encouraging new connections across a massive collection of materials: letters, photographs, federal surveillance documents, paintings, sermons, and other ephemera surrounding World War II Japanese American incarceration. Their respective acts of assembling and retelling destabilize the dominant narrative of a resolved family or national trauma to reflect divergent embodied experiences of distress and disability effected by racial debilitation. Offering concentric analysis of textual and archival reordering via Asian American studies, disability studies, and digital humanities, this article adds alternative dimensions to the ongoing legacy of incarceration by inviting readers to create new constellations of meaning through examining temporal and embodied disorder. Reading the physical book and digital archives together also acts as a model for how literary studies scholars might complicate our attention to embodiment beyond narrative analysis, by thinking about disability and madness in the design and structure of texts and digital media. Through cripping the archive, the author calls for a reconceptualization of mad and disabled bodyminds as not only content to be examined, but also users and creators whose disorder animates alternative ways of knowing personal and state violence.

“A Constant Juggling Act”—The Daily Life Experiences and Well-Being of Doctoral Students

(1) Background: There are increasing numbers of doctoral students globally. Poor mental health and well-being among university students, including doctoral students, is a growing concern globally, not least in this post-pandemic era. Engaging in a range of activities every day and maintaining balance between necessary and desired activities is believed to improve health and increase well-being. However, little is currently known about the daily life, activity balance and well-being of doctoral students. This study explored and described the daily life experiences of doctoral students and how pursuing their degree impacted their activity balance and well-being. (2) Method: Purposive sampling methods were used in this qualitative interpretive descriptive study to recruit 10 doctoral students in an Irish university. The data were generated through individual semi-structured interviews and thematically analysed. (3) Findings: Doctoral students have a range of roles, responsibilities and activities that they need to and want to engage in daily. For many, balancing their daily activities and roles alongside their doctoral degree is challenging. Undertaking a doctoral degree can have both a positive and negative impact on well-being. (4) Conclusions: Obtaining an insight into the perspectives and daily life experiences of doctoral students allows for a better understanding of the students’ journey. Supporting the well-being of doctoral students is essential to enhance their doctoral education and assist them in successfully completing their degree.

Everyday life experiences of Chinese community-dwelling oldest old who live alone at home

ABSTRACT Purpose Older adults aged ≥ 80 years living alone at home are more likely to experience challenges. Daily life experiences regarding living alone are still limited in the Asian context. This study explored the everyday life experiences of older Chinese residents living alone at home. Research questions included: (1) How do Chinese community-dwelling old people describe everyday life experiences related to living alone? (2) What kind of difficulties and needs do Chinese community-dwelling older people living alone face in everyday lives? (3) How do Chinese community-dwelling older people cope with challenges faced in their everyday lives related to living alone? Methods This was qualitative descriptive research. Purposive sampling was adopted to recruit 13 participants aged 80–92 years of age from communities and one hospital. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data which was analysed by conventional content analysis. Results Three themes were identified: theme 1–difficulty in finding a sense of belonging, theme 2–striving to maintain independence, theme 3–hard to gain a sense of control. Conclusions This study provided novel insights into understanding the difficulties and needs of Chinese older people living alone at home. Three key challenges and associated strategies they used to cope with in daily lives were presented.