Autonomy in the Elderly: A Phenomenological Study

In near future, most of the elderly people will be living in developing countries such as Iran. Maintaining autonomy and independence is the main goal in elderly care. This study was conducted to understand the concept of autonomy from the viewpoint of elderly people. A qualitative research based on van Manens phenomenological methodology was developed. Semi-structured interviews were used for 10 old people who were selected by purposeful sampling. Research activities of van Manens methodology were used for analysis of verbatim transcripts. Four themes emerged by which the phenomenon of autonomy could be illustrated. These themes were: being a self director, not being a burden, financial independence and living in one’s own house. Being a self director included sub-themes of independence, decision making, freewill and authority. Not being a burden included sub-themes of self-care, independent performance and being useful for the family and community. Financial independence included sub-themes of experience of inflation, financial security, fear of financial dependency, and relation between financial ability and health status. Living in one’s own house included sub-themes of having separate life from offspring, hate of living in nursing homes, feeling of dignity by having separate life from offspring, and family’s effort for the older people to live in their own house. The attention paid to these themes by older people showed that autonomy is both multidimensional and context-dependent in older people of Iran. The findings will help health professionals to develop an effective caring system for older people.