Abstract

• Purpose
  This study was done to understand elderly women within a community who have used lots of drugs.
• Method
  Data was collected through in-depth interviews with four elderly women from April 2001 to February 2002. Data was analyzed by Giorgi's phenomenological method(2000).
• Results
  The components in common with drug usage of elderly women were as follows: ‘Awareness of the limitation of physical strength and uncertainty of life’, ‘Dread of a crisis situation occurring’, ‘Attachment and dependency on drugs’, ‘Expectation of a comfortable life and death’, ‘Prevention of family burden’, and ‘Pursuit of psychological comfort’. The general structure of experiences was as follows: causal factors were ‘Awareness of uncertainty and limitation’, ‘dread of a crisis situation occurring’ the results factor was ‘Attachment and dependency on drugs’ and the facilitating factors were ‘Expectation of a comfortable life and death’, ‘Prevention of family burden’, and ‘Pursuit of psychological comfort’. The causal relation was cyclic. This structure showed a realistic adaptation pattern.
• Conclusion
  This study contributed to provide fundamental data for nursing interventions for health promotion and promoting quality of life in elderly women by increasing understanding of the experiences of drugs use.
• Keywords: Elderly; Drugs

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