Loneliness, depression and sociability among elderly people in Male', Maldives / Zahudha Abdul Azeez

1.3 Background

Majority of people in the elderly population experience general loneliness and depression in their old age, either because of living alone or due to lack of family support (Community development Halton, 2016). It is human nature that. people in this age group face and arc living with multiple physical, psychological and social problems which challenge their sense of self and wellbeing in day to day life and their capacity to live happily. Most of them are living alone without any connections to social networks, so people in this age group experience social isolation with lack of family relations and with friends less likely visiting them. This population requires tremendous family, social, community and institutional support through a wider spectrum of the health system.
In the Maldivian context, people are living in geographically isolated islands which arc arranged into atolls where the availability of health services, education and jobs from Island arc generally very limited compared to the services available in the capital city Male'. Therefore, around one third of the total population migrated to Male' for better facilities (Ministry of Finance and Treasury, 2015). To overcome these inequalities in health services, people have migrated to Male' and over the years the city has become overcrowded. Recent census report shows that, out of 407,660 total country populations (foreigners and residents), 230,453 people were living in capital city (National Bureau of Statistics, 2016). All living expenses in Male' have increased tremendously and as a result both partners in most families have to work fulltime and aged parents are left alone. Due to this lack of close family ties and reduced connection, they become more isolated.
We do not have any published academic research in the Maldives in relation to this subject matter to evaluate how 14 the above-mentioned factors affect our elderly population, nor has any study been done on the relationships of loneliness, depression and sociability among elderly age group in Maldives, Therefore, I thought it's very important to collect such information through this study. So, this research findings will be helpful for future public health interventions, these also will be beneficial for health professionals and other government bodies.
Depression. loneliness and social isolation in elderly age group lowers a country's productivity,increases health care expenses and it will result in being a burden for family members (Loud & Nikhade, 2015). For these reasons, it is important to study the relationships and prevalence of depression, loneliness and social isolation in old aged people. This study will focus on finding out the relationships between loneliness, depression and sociability in elderly people.