Meanings of being old, living on one's own and suffering from incurable cancer in rural Norway.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore and understand the lived experience of older people living alone and suffering from incurable cancer in rural Norway.

Methods And Sample: Narrative interviews were conducted with five older people with incurable cancer (three women and two men, aged 71-79), receiving outpatient and life-prolonging chemotherapy and living alone in their homes in rural areas. A phenomenological hermeneutical approach was used to interpret the meaning of the lived experience.