BACKGROUND: Loneliness is a public health concern and more than half of the residents in nursing homes experience lonliness. Risk factors are age and loss of close relatives.
PURPOSE: This study aimed to describe experiences of loneliness among older people living in an academic nursing home.
METHODS: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten older people and data analysed with systematic text condensation inspired by a phenomenological approach.
RESULTS: Three themes were identified: "Relatives and health care professionals matter"; "Acceptance and meaningful existence alleviate loneliness"; and "Challenges affecting the experience of loneliness". The older persons described themselves as lonely, but their experience of loneliness differed. They managed loneliness by adapting to it or getting used to it; some also chose to be alone. To add meaningfulness to their daily life, talking about memories and their past were appriciated. Personality traits and variations in functional ability were identified as barriers to social interactions.
CONCLUSIONS: Health care professionals can reduce negative experiences of loneliness by listening to nursing home residents, creating a meaningful daily life with individualized activities, and by encouraging contacts with close relatives. This can be a way of maintaining older persons' dignity and coping with the longing for what has been.