Living Alone in Later Life: Meanings of Life and Death

Abstract

This research studies the lives of older adults who live alone – whether as a matter of personal choice, or due to the loss of a spouse or family members in the later stages of life, or as a result of divorce. The research focuses on understanding the meaning of living alone in old age, how the elderly plan, manage, and take care of themselves in their final years, and their perspectives on death. This study is framed using sociological and anthropological concepts and employs an ethnographic methodology, using in-depth interviews and participant observation in the daily lives of 15 older adults living alone in urban Chiang Mai and its surrounding districts such as Mae Rim and Doi Saket. The participants are diverse in terms of gender, social class (middle class, retired government officials, and urban poor), disability status, residential context (urban, urban poor communities, and rural areas), social status (single, divorced, or having lost all family members or partners).

          This study found that living alone among elderly is closely linked to structural changes in Thai society and the economy. These changes have led to shifts in family structures, with family members increasingly migrating to work or live elsewhere. As a result, older adults must adapt to life on their own, fostering notions of self-reliance, a desire not to burden their families, and the pursuit of autonomy in shaping their own lives. Many express confidences in their ability to care for themselves until the end of life, which also informs their understandings of death and the management of their own dying process. Thus, living alone, managing one’s own life and preparing for death have become key domains in which older adults enact self-responsibility, shaped by shifting social and economic transformation. These practices inform emerging the new ethical frameworks that guide how older adults navigate the final stages of life in contemporary Thai society.