RESUMO
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe how the rural elderly cope with experiences in multiple chronic diseases. METHOD: Data were collected through participant observation and in-depth interview using ethnography. The participants were 9 women and 2 men who aged over 65, were living in rural community, and had experienced two or more chronic diseases. RESULTS: According to the results of this study, those who had experienced multiple chronic diseases went through the stages of 'recognizing of revealed symptoms', 'discovering of disease', 'overcoming', 'neglecting', 'discovering another disease', 'being frustrated' and 'living with suffering'. CONCLUSION: The results of this study are expected to be utilized as basic materials to develop a nursing intervention program for effective management of chronic diseases.