Elderly Who Live Alone Case Study

A study of the elderly who live alone
1. Introduction
As the population in Singapore ages, the number of elderly people living alone has increased as well. Singapore is predominantly Asian, with most elderly having cultural roots from China, India and the Malay Archipelago. In Asian tradition, working children are expected to provide their parents with pocket money, food, shelter and medical care. Although most Singaporeans do so, there are some who have neglected the needs of their parents. For the elderly who live alone and do not have children, or if their children are overseas, they are often left destitute. But sometimes, all it takes is a friendly greeting and a listening ear for elderly to start interacting with people again. Hence, this paper provides an overview of the elderly who live alone in Singapore. The paper will address the main reasons why the

Although these reasons could be true, there are other reasons why an elderly person lives on his own. It may be because he is poor, or because he have been neglected by his children. Or he may have wanted to live alone, or maybe he didn’t have a choice. “The largest proportion of subjects lived alone due to circumstances. Twelve of the 19 respondents (63%) were forced to live alone because they outlived their family networks, never had children, or were estranged from their children” (Wong & Verbrugge, 2008). Most of the elderly had not chosen to live alone, but rather were left with no choice. After a while, they grew accustomed to their circumstance. Some even found that living alone and having independence is a welcomed consequence. The remaining respondents who chose to live alone did so due to two reasons. They were either offered homes with others, but declined because they did not want to trouble other people, or preferred to live alone and avoid social