Aging alone: lifestyle and unmet needs among unpartnered middle-aged adults preparing for later life in urban Taiwan

Population aging, delayed marriage, one-person households, and weakening assumptions of spouse-based care make unpartnered aging an emerging concern in Taiwan. This study examined how unpartnered middle-aged adults in urban Taiwan prepare for later life and developed two grounded models of solitary aging.

A convergent, qualitatively weighted mixed-methods design was used. 11 unpartnered adults aged 43-56 completed interviews and questionnaires assessing demographics, subjective aging, personality traits, social connectedness, isolation, loneliness, financial adequacy, health status, and preferred later-life care. Interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, with Selection, Optimization, and Compensation and person-environment fit used as sensitizing frameworks. Quantitative indicators were integrated through theme-by-measure comparison.

Participants were predominantly female, educated, never married, and childless. Findings were synthesized into 2 models. The Lifestyle Model of Solitary Aging conceptualizes solitary aging as organized around autonomy, growth, and life purpose, while shaped by psychosocial adaptation and structural conditions. The Technology-Enhanced Solitary Aging model specifies how smart-home systems, digital communication tools, and health-monitoring devices may support autonomy, safety, and emotional connection when usability, accessibility, and familiarity are present. Across both models, participants used education, financial planning, health maintenance, selective social engagement, and technology to preserve independence, yet these strategies were constrained by loneliness, care uncertainty, policy gaps, and usability barriers.

The models extend Selection, Optimization, and Compensation to nonspousal aging contexts by showing that compensation is relational, technological, and infrastructural. Policy should link care navigation, housing, community belonging, and accessible technologies without presuming family support.