Preventive home visitors as compensating microsystems for old men living alone

Introduction: Old men living alone represent a growing demographic group. They raise societal concern because of their disadvantaged status in a number of health statistics as well as their reputation for being difficult to reach. In public discourse they are mainly represented through a narrative of misery. Apart from statistics we still do not know much about these men’s lives. In Denmark, one group of health care professionals do, however, have firsthand knowledge about them: Senior citizens are offered preventive home visits which are conversations about health and quality of life, typically carried out by nurses or physiotherapists.

Materials and methods: We conducted five focus group interviews, each with 3-5 municipal home visitors, in five different Danish municipalities. Interview questions focused on the home visitors’ experiences of working with old men living alone. Interviews underwent thematic analysis. Themes were interpreted through ecological systems theory.

Results: Three key themes were found: 1) nuancing the vulnerability narrative, 2) transitions to new roles as particularly challenging, and 3) preventive home visits as a compensating measure in the men’s environment.

Conclusions: Old men living alone have resources that counter the misery narrative. Besides their own coping mechanisms they have an overlooked resource in the preventive home visitors, who go to great lengths and deviate from formal regulations to help these men adjust, thus acting as compensating microsystems when the men's own systems are reduced.