In this article, we analyse experiences of loneliness among older people living alone. Current knowledge suggests that loneliness is a significant social issue that can compromise health and wellbeing, and that seniors living alone are at a higher risk of loneliness. Based on a qualitative methodological approach and semi-structured interviews conducted with 43 people aged 65 or over living alone in Montreal (Quebec, Canada), this study sought to understand how they perceive, reflect on and react to loneliness. The results show that these seniors perceive loneliness as a dynamic, and rarely static, experience, which has a very different significance, depending on whether it is chosen or circumstantially imposed. The experience of loneliness recounted by the seniors we met is characterised by its heterogeneity, and involves, to varying degrees, their relationship to themselves (solitude), to others (family (and friends) loneliness and loneliness in love) and/or to the world (existential loneliness and aloneness). Lastly, our analyses highlight how social factors, such as age, gender, marital status, social network and socio-economic conditions, shape the experience of loneliness among seniors. These factors also influence the strategies that seniors develop to prevent or alleviate loneliness, strategies that yield very mixed results.

在本文中，我们分析了独居老年人的孤独感。当前的知识表明，孤独感是一个严重的社会问题，可能会损害健康和福祉，而独居的老年人面临更高的孤独感风险。基于定性方法论方法和对蒙特利尔（加拿大魁北克）一个人住的65岁或65岁以上的43人进行的半结构化访谈，本研究旨在了解他们如何感知，反思和应对孤独感。结果表明，这些前辈将孤独感看作是动态的，很少是静态的经历，根据选择的还是间接施加的，孤独感具有非常不同的意义。我们遇到的高年级学生讲述的孤独感的特点是其异质性，并且在不同程度上涉及到独处），他人（家人（和朋友）的寂寞和恋爱中的寂寞）和/或世界（存在的寂寞和孤独）。最后，我们的分析强调了年龄，性别，婚姻状况，社会网络和社会经济状况等社会因素如何影响老年人的孤独感。这些因素也影响老年人预防或减轻孤独感的策略，这些策略产生的结果非常复杂。