“We have been lured to move in here”: Negotiations of loneliness and homefeeling at housing facilities for lonely, elderly people in Denmark

In Denmark it is estimated that approximately 65,000 elderly people aged 65 and above often feel lonely. If the elderly who occasionally feel lonely are included, the figure increases to 250,000 which corresponds to one in four elderly citizens in Denmark. This development has become known as the ‘loneliness problem’, which has attained a central place in the Danish municipalities and in the public debate. In many ways, these initiatives “to combat loneliness” as it is often formulated in the media, are very important, as research have pointed out how loneliness and a lack of social networks can lead to a greater risk of chronic diseases and depression. But at the same time, critical researchers argue that the various and well-intentioned calls for a socially and physically active lifestyle that elderly people are met with also imply a number of tacit expectations and norms for how they ought to behave, and they may not identify with these expectations.