Findings
Participants
Table 1 summarises the demographic characteristics of
participants in both the brief and in-depth interviews.
About half of the participants in the two groups were
male, with a median age of 74–77 years. The majority
were divorced or widowed, having lived alone for a
median period of 9–10.5 years. All had a cancer diagnosis
Table 1 Demographic characteristics of ‘home alone’
participants
Profile
Brief
interview
(n = 26)
In-depth
interview
(n = 8)
Gender
Male 14 4
Female 12 4
Age (yrs)
Median 76.5 74.0
Range (55–91) (56–86)
Marital status
Married ⁄ De facto 0 0
Never married 2 0
Widowed 12 3
Divorced ⁄ separated 12 5
Ethnic origin
Australian 8 2
Other English speaking 13 4
Non-English speaking 5 2
Length of time living alone (yrs)
Median 10.5 9.00
Range (0.42–60.0) (3.0–22.0)
Diagnosis
Cancer 26 8
Metastases 12 3
Comorbidities 21 8
Length of time with palliative care (months)
Less than or equal to 3 months 20 8
More than 3 months 6 0
Model of care
Personal alarm 14 5
Care aide 12 3