Author(s)

Pia Hedberg, Yngve Gustafson, Christine Brulin, Lena Aléx

Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Geriatric Medicine, Ume? University, Ume?, Sweden.
Department of Nursing, Ume? University, Ume?, Sweden.

This paper provides very old men’s experiences of and reflections on purpose in life. The answers from an interview question about purpose in life from 23 men were analyzed by using qualitative content analysis. The results revealed three content areas: talking of purpose of life in general, talking of own purpose in life and reflections on purpose in life. Our findings showed that very old men experienced purpose in life most strongly when remembering the past and describing their earlier work. The old men reflected on purpose in life not just from their own individual perspectives, but also from a more reflective and analytic perspective.

Aging; Men; Narrative Analysis; Qualitative Content Analysis; Purpose in Life

Hedberg, P. , Gustafson, Y. , Brulin, C. and Aléx, L. (2013) Purpose in life among very old men. Advances in Aging Research, 2, 100-105. doi: 10.4236/aar.2013.23014.