Exploring Satisfactory Communication From the Perspective of Older People: A Qualitative Study

Objectives Satisfactory communication is one of the important factors associated with successful aging. This study identifies the dimensions of satisfactory communication from the viewpoint of Iranian older adults in 2023. Methods & Materials This qualitative study was performed on 15 older adults who were selected by a purposeful sampling method from Bojnurd City, Iran. The data were obtained using semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using the conventional content analysis approach. The MAXQDA software, version 2020 was used for data management. Results The average age of the participants was 68.64±7.61 years. Four main and nine sub-main categories were developed, including satisfactory communication with family (leadership, supportive-caring, and daily communication), self-communication (optimistic and coping communication), communication with God (demanding and confabulating communication), and peer communication (feeling and memory sharing). The most frequent category was satisfactory communication with family. Conclusion It is necessary to inform the society, the older adults’ families, and their caregivers about satisfactory communication among them, especially supportive-care communication. Also, considering the importance of self-communication and communication with God in satisfactory communication dimensions, it is necessary to pay attention to their need for solitude and participation in religious ceremonies. There is also a need to provide conditions for more communication between the older adults and their families and peers in the community.