Reaction to daily stressors in the experiences of elderly women living alone in the community

This study aims at examining the process of reaction to the daily stress factors linked to the health of an elderly woman living alone in the community, a phenomenon which has not been studied very much previously. A naturalistic observation type quality estimate permitted to collect data in three steps: a first interview at home, using three different interview guides. The analysis of the thoughts and action of the participant permitted first to observe an interrelation between the different components of the reactions to the stress factors, thus justifying the existence of a process and then to note the influence of the context factors on the process of reaction to the stress factors.The results of this study underline the importance of the daily stress factors linked to the health, the influence of the context factors showing the specificity of the reaction to the stress factors and eventually the notion of process which is at stake in this reaction to the daily stress factors linked to the health.