Accumulated Losses: Ground Theory Research on the Social Needs of the Elderly in Arak City

Shortly, the elderly will constitute a large age group in Iran.The changes in elderly life bring numerous challenges related to their social welfare.Identifying the challenges concerning the life and social welfare of the elderly necessitates research in this field.This study is grounded theory exploratory research on the social needs of the elderly in Arak, adopting a qualitative approach.Data were collected through purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews with 25 elderly residents of Arak who voluntarily participated in the interview process.The findings show that four main categories were identified: distorted connections, incongruence, Technology demand, and longing for respect subordination.These ultimately led to the core category of this study, titled "Accumulated Loss."These findings emerged from 13 subcategories related to the social needs of the elderly, derived from the concepts obtained from the interviews.Although the needs of the elderly in contemporary social life are diverse, they are all influenced by ideas that manifest within the core category of "Accumulated Loss."Participants in the study expressed significant signs of loss in many areas, ranging from formal social interactions to informal social relationships and even intimate family relations during their elderly years.This may relate to a lack of psychological comfort due to feelings of insincerity in familial relationships or a loss of comfort due to economic pressures in daily life.A review of this accumulated loss in this research highlighted the most important social needs of the elderly.