Friendship in Later Life: How Friends Are Significant Resources in Older Persons’ Communication about Chronic Pain
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methodology
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Data Collection
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Intimacy
“Among our close friends, they know that I have these problems. We talk about it from time to time but I don’t want to burden people with my problems”.(W75 = Woman, 75 years old)
“Anyway, we’ve been friends for over 50 years. We tell each other everything, and the good thing is that it stays with us, it doesn’t go anywhere else. We confide in each other but it doesn’t go anywhere else”.(W87)
“We have friends like everyone else. But they are the type of friends we see from time to time. We share a meal or something like that. But they’re not close friends. I’m not going to call them to complain about something”.(M76 = Man, 76 years old)
“If, for example, someone I know, who is not very close to me, [asks me about my pain], I ask myself: ‘But why is she asking me these questions? Why is she interested in me?’”(W82)
“With these people here, it’s difficult, because I can’t tell (…) I can’t, it’s too difficult, it’s too personal”.(W86)
“My neighbours, in the house, well, when I meet them like this: “Hello, are you all right?” “I’m fine” “Yes, yes, I’m fine”. I’m not going to say: “Listen, this morning, damn, my shoulder hurts””.(W82)
“… and then there are my little neighbours who are also very important (…) and we have a lot of contact, I see them once or twice a week (…) and he comes to vacuum once a month and I have very good connection with them, it’s just that I didn’t think about it because they have become a bit like our adopted children”.(M87)
3.2. Social Proximity
“With our group of friends, we’ve been together since 1973 and we’re still the same people, growing old together, having babies, children, and grandchildren. Now we live alone. We have all kinds of pain, and then obviously we can talk to each other without any problem, because everyone has something… or almost”.(W75)
“Especially with friends my own age, but also almost always with people who are by my side since ’91, who have known me since then, who know that things are not going so well.”(W75)
“Yes, yes, because we tell each other everything, I feel that she is understanding. So it feels good to feel understood”.(W83)
“Ah, with Suzanne (alias) too, that’s for sure. She’s always had back problems, she’s had several operations, she knows what it’s like. With her, I can talk”.(W80)
“(I talk) with Marie-José (alias), because she is going to have a knee operation. I’ve also had a knee operation. So, yes, we are talking about that”.(W91)
“There’s Lily (alias), yeah. But she’s had a bit of the same journey as me, lots of problems, lots of pain”.(W80)
“Someone who is doing very well, who has everything going well, he doesn’t want to talk about it. For him, it’s not important, you see”.(W82)
“Without me saying anything, they are now more willing to help me carry, they are much more attentive. But I think that if I had got on their nerves I might not have seen them so much”.(W84)
4. Discussion
Implications
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variables | ||
---|---|---|
Gender | Woman Man | 34 15 |
Age | 75–85 More than 85 | 28 21 |
Primary Place of Socialisation | Switzerland Other | 34 15 |
Socio-Economic Level | Lower social class Upper social class | 31 18 |
Residence | Home Nursing home | 40 9 |
Descendant | Yes No | 39 10 |
Relationship Status | Single or widowed With partner | 33 16 |
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Semlali, I.; Merminod, G.; Weber, O.; Terrier, A.; Decosterd, I.; Rubli Truchard, E.; Singy, P. Friendship in Later Life: How Friends Are Significant Resources in Older Persons’ Communication about Chronic Pain. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 5551. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095551
Semlali I, Merminod G, Weber O, Terrier A, Decosterd I, Rubli Truchard E, Singy P. Friendship in Later Life: How Friends Are Significant Resources in Older Persons’ Communication about Chronic Pain. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(9):5551. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095551
Chicago/Turabian StyleSemlali, Imane, Gilles Merminod, Orest Weber, Ana Terrier, Isabelle Decosterd, Eve Rubli Truchard, and Pascal Singy. 2022. "Friendship in Later Life: How Friends Are Significant Resources in Older Persons’ Communication about Chronic Pain" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 9: 5551. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095551