Self-care of older adults without family support from a nursing perspective
Keywords:
community health nursing; elder abuse; review literature as topic; self-neglectAbstract
Introduction: increasing population aging and family abandonment are structural barriers to self-care among older adults. Consequently, the risks of hospitalization, unwanted institutionalization, and deterioration of the population’s health increase.
Objective: to analyze, from a nursing perspective and based on the literature, self-care among older adults without family support.
Methods: a narrative review of the literature available in the SciELO, PubMed, and ClinicalKey databases and the Google Scholar search engine was carried out from July 2025 to January 2026, in Spanish and English. After screening the titles and abstracts, 35 full-text articles were analyzed, and 27 published during the specified period were selected. The relevant checklists were applied, and a descriptive thematic assessment of barriers, consequences, and intervention strategies was carried out.
Development: family abandonment is a structural barrier that limits self-care abilities among older adults and accelerates their functional, psychological, and social deterioration. Therefore, it is essential to analyze this reality from the nursing perspective.
Conclusions: comprehensive studies that go beyond the biomedical model are needed. The suggested three-dimensional model provides a guide for clinical practice and the design of interventions; it integrates and articulates comprehensive geriatric assessment, strengthening self-efficacy, and the creation of community support networks. This synthesis provides a guiding framework for clinical practice, professional training, and the planning of interventions aimed at promoting self-care among older adults without family support in community and geriatric settings.
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