It's my turn now : the choice of older women to live alone

This report details a study undertaken in Vancouver during 1990 and 1991 with funding from Health and Welfare Canada under the Seniors' Independence Program, jointly sponsored by the Vancouver Health Department and the Gerontology Research Centre at Simon Fraser University. The first objective of the research was to examine a sociological phenomenon, i.e. the increasing frequency of older women living alone, with a view to determining the predictors of wellbeing among those involved and to understanding the experience of older women in living alone. The study employed a well-proven quantitative methodology: a review of the literature was followed by development and piloting of a questionnaire; interviewers were recruited and trained; a sample of 174 elderly women was randomly drawn, interviewed and, after a follow-up activity, re-interviewed; the data were tabulated, analyzed for statistical significance, and discussed at length; reports were written and presented at conferences. The second objective of the study was to include the perspective of younger family members or friends on the living arrangement of older women. To this end, telephone interviews were carried out with 69 friends or family members recruited during the course of the original interviews.