"Alone, there is nobody": A qualitative study of the lived experience of loneliness in older men living with HIV

Abstract

Loneliness has been shown to be a predictor of poor health and early mortality in the general population. Older men living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at heightened risk of experiencing loneliness. Here, we aim to describe the lived experience of loneliness in older men living with HIV and identify targets for intervention. We used grounded theory with a theoretical framework of narrative phenomenology to focus data collection and analysis on significant experiences related to loneliness. Based on individual narrative interviews with 10 older men living with HIV, experiences of loneliness related to "multiple losses," "being invisible" and "hiding out" as emergent themes. Participants also described living with loneliness by "finding meaning," "creating social experiences," "pursuing interests and things to 'live for'" and attending events in which "everyone is welcome." The discussion situates experiences of loneliness within the accumulation of losses and stigmas over time and how the participants strategies for living with loneliness could inform interventions to reduce loneliness in older men living with HIV at individual and societal levels.