The Issue of Iranian Older Women Living Alone: Case Study in Tehran and Alborz Provinces

Older Women Living Alone (OWLA) are one of the most vulnerable groups due to the circumstances of the society and it is necessary to plan a specific program to support them. No specific program to support OWLA has been designed and implemented in Iran and for this purpose it is necessary to assess and prioritize the needs of this group. In this study semi-structured interviews with experts, policy-makers, and managers and OWLA were conducted and their contents were analyzed. Targeted-sampling and snowball-sampling was performed in Tehran and Alborz provinces and continued until saturation was achieved. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded in three steps and the categories and subcategories were obtained. The most important reason for living-alone among elderly-women is the death of their spouse and marriage of their children. In order to be independent, they try to manage their finances by saving, while at the same time take care of their health, are treated for their illnesses. Many of them don't want to remarry in old-age. Relocation due to home sales in old age means that in many cases their communication network is limited to their children and families and social participation is limited among them. The communication with family-members, care, independency, financial support, social-interaction and social-participation, security and a sense of security, geographical access to health-care and rehabilitation-services, training and awareness raising, entertainment and leisure appropriate to old-age are issues that need to be addressed in policies and planning related to OWLA.