Factors that influence the health of older widows and widowers-A systematic review of quantitative research.

Anne Lise Holm,Astrid Karin Berland,Elisabeth Severinsson

doi:10.1002/nop2.243

Abstract

AimTo examine factors that influence the health of older widows and widowers. The review question was: What is the evidence of the relationship between widowhood and health in older adults?DesignSystematic review.Data sourcesAcademic Search Elite, CINAHL, Medline (Ovid) and PubMed were searched for articles published between January 2013–December 2017.Review methodsA systematic review of quantitative research with a qualitative thematic analysis.ResultsThe selection process resulted in 12 studies. One of the themes that emerged was: emotional challenges related to experiences of bereavement, depression and anxiety, which was based on the sub‐theme social support as the main strategy for coping with emotional pain and suffering. The second theme was: struggling with poor physical health. The findings indicate that healthcare professionals need knowledge and skills to deal with the health consequences of widowhood in old age. Building community teams can prevent emotional and physical health problems, as well as reduce mortality.

Highlights

About 2.5 million people die in the United States each year (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 2014) where widowhood and bereavement are disproportionately expe‐ rienced by older adults (U.S Federal Interagency Forun on Aging Related Statistics, 2012; Ghesquiere, Shear, & Duan, 2013)
One of the themes that emerged was: emotional challenges related to experiences of be‐ reavement, depression and anxiety based on the sub‐theme social support as the main strategy for coping with emotional pain and suf‐ fering
Two themes emerged from the thematic analysis (Table 3): emotional challenges related to experiences of bereave‐ ment, depression and anxiety based on the sub‐theme social support as the main strategy for coping with emotional pain and suffering

Summary

Introduction

About 2.5 million people die in the United States each year (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 2014) where widowhood and bereavement (especially spousal loss) are disproportionately expe‐ rienced by older adults (U.S Federal Interagency Forun on Aging Related Statistics, 2012; Ghesquiere, Shear, & Duan, 2013). Factors caused by social consequences that influence the health of older widows have mainly been described in Asian countries such as India, China and Japan, where older widows are exposed to ne‐ glect sexual abuse, violence and isolation (Agrawal & Arokiasamy, 2009). In these countries, older widows are considered to belong to their husband's family, whose members frequently view them as a burden (Aniruddha, 2013). Older widows are considered to belong to their husband's family, whose members frequently view them as a burden (Aniruddha, 2013). Cheng, Chan, Li, and Leung (2014) found

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Conclusion