The informants were born between 1924 and 1939. Five lived alone, five were cohabiting. Nine lived in ordinary
homes and one at a nursing home. Three received help from community care. The others were dependent
on their relatives. The analysis emerged into three categories: living in the wake of COPD and LTOT; balancing
between diminishing ability and increasing restrictions; and self-care strategies for managing in everyday life
(Figure 1). The categories were composed by the subcategories presented in Table 1.