Abstract

Old age brings about distinctive characteristics in elderly people and necessitates recognizing their human dignity. Dignity could include self-respect, self-esteem, and integrity in the elderly and others could have a direct role in preserving or undermining it. The present study was carried out to clarify the content of human interactions and their impact on elderly Iranians' human dignity. This qualitative research applied a content-analysis method. It used purposeful sampling as well as in-depth and semi-structured interviews with 16 elderly Iranians in Tehran in 1394. In order to analyze the data, the interview transcripts were input into the MAXQDA software, by using which the data were coded. According to the data analysis, the extracted themes concerning the impact of human interactions on elderly Iranians' dignity comprised 3 main themes and 10 subthemes. The major themes were acceptance, leisure activities, and privacy protection. The subthemes consisted of the family's understanding of the elderly, veneration of their presence in the family, consideration for their interests, nature excursions, occupation and diversion, association, social recreations, personal and familial privacy, environmental privacy, and social privacy. These all emerged from the participants' experiences. The results indicate that it seems vital to provide necessary conditions for the maintenance of elderly people's familial and social interactions with the aim of bolstering their morale and preserving their human dignity. Moreover, one of the most practical approaches to holding patients in reverence is to abide by the Charter of Rights for the Elderly.