Healthy Aging: A Case Study
INTRODUCTION
What affect does losing a spouse have on elderly individuals? Often grief goes unnoticed in our elderly populations, especially when they must leave their home and are placed in an assisted living facility Conlon and Aldredge (2013). Bereavement/grief is one of the most painful and stressful life events that threatens healthy aging in elderly people (Mercan, Barlin, & Cebeci, (2016) & Conlon and Aldredge, (2013). The impact of losing a spouse can lead to physical and mental challenges as well as increased mortality risk. One study by (Mercan, Barlin, & Cebeci, (2016) discovered that the relationship between late-life bereavement was associated with familial death and weight loss, specifically body mass index (BMI), while another study conducted pointed out the temporal relationship between prolonged grief (PG) and post-traumatic stress (PTS) O’Connor, Nickerson, Aderka, & Bryant (2015). Thought elderly people …show more content…
As individual’s life changed or became ill after losing a spouse, they may choose to be placed in an assisted living facility for care. Per Conlon and Aldredge (2013) many of these individuals are still in the grieving process and their grief has gone undetected and rash decisions are made about their lives. Prolong grief and depression can have a negative and lasting effect on one’s overall health and that’s what leads to poor decision making on behalf of the surviving spouse. Mental and physical illness are the results of prolonged grief.
Finally, studies showed that 11 out of 12 women survive their spouse, and men are more likely to remarry sooner than women. Because women are more likely to outlive their husband, there is a shortage of elderly men available for elderly women to choose from. Therefore, women are being left with limited opportunities to find new companionship or marriage.
SUMMARY OF
What affect does losing a spouse have on elderly individuals? Often grief goes unnoticed in our elderly populations, especially when they must leave their home and are placed in an assisted living facility Conlon and Aldredge (2013). Bereavement/grief is one of the most painful and stressful life events that threatens healthy aging in elderly people (Mercan, Barlin, & Cebeci, (2016) & Conlon and Aldredge, (2013). The impact of losing a spouse can lead to physical and mental challenges as well as increased mortality risk. One study by (Mercan, Barlin, & Cebeci, (2016) discovered that the relationship between late-life bereavement was associated with familial death and weight loss, specifically body mass index (BMI), while another study conducted pointed out the temporal relationship between prolonged grief (PG) and post-traumatic stress (PTS) O’Connor, Nickerson, Aderka, & Bryant (2015). Thought elderly people …show more content…
As individual’s life changed or became ill after losing a spouse, they may choose to be placed in an assisted living facility for care. Per Conlon and Aldredge (2013) many of these individuals are still in the grieving process and their grief has gone undetected and rash decisions are made about their lives. Prolong grief and depression can have a negative and lasting effect on one’s overall health and that’s what leads to poor decision making on behalf of the surviving spouse. Mental and physical illness are the results of prolonged grief.
Finally, studies showed that 11 out of 12 women survive their spouse, and men are more likely to remarry sooner than women. Because women are more likely to outlive their husband, there is a shortage of elderly men available for elderly women to choose from. Therefore, women are being left with limited opportunities to find new companionship or marriage.
SUMMARY OF