Sense of Belongingness Among Filipino Elderly: The Use of Doodles in Geriatrics Research

Abstract

The aging population of the world has dramatically been increasing thereby creating the need to assess and address the emotional feelings of the elderly. The intent of this qualitative study was to capture the essence or the lebenswelt of the Filipino elderly's sense of belongingness. This was accomplished by capitalizing on the power of conscious doodling and elicitation interviews with a select group of elderly persons confined in a government-run institution. A sample of 40 elderly (17 men and 23 women) aged 60 to 85 years voluntarily participated in this study. Interview proceedings were tape-recorded and were later on transcribed. Following the typological coding approach, the doodles and data transcriptions were categorized and thematised into three distinct levels of feelings and emotions. Interestingly, the three thematic levels of the elderly's sense of belongingness include Plain, Plateau, and Pinnacle. The first level, called Plain, encompasses the feelings of abandonment and avolition; the second level of Plateau describes their feelings of adaptation, association, and assurance; while the third level, termed as Pinnacle, highlights their feelings of acceptance, antiphony, assimilation, and attachment and actualization. Notably, the emerged sense of belongingness by both male and female genders has generally similar patterns before and during admission in the nursing home, except for some differences.