Managing widowhood in later life : the challenges encountered

Collins, T

Abstract

Background/aim: Widowhood in later life is a transition experienced by many older people,
particularly older women. This paper explores the challenges encountered by a group of older women
experiencing the loss of a spouse or partner.
Methods: The data is drawn from a longitudinal study exploring the significance of personal
communities in managing the transition of later life widowhood. A series of qualitative interviews
were conducted with 26 older widows (62–90 years of age) over a period of 18 months. Interview
transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis.
Results: This paper presents a number of themes from the women’s accounts of their Christmas
celebrations and their Christmas cards, which illustrate the challenges to managing widowhood in later
life. Themes included: family friction, dependence, additional losses, over commitment, passivity and
feeling different.
Conclusion: The findings reveal that Christmas can be an isolating and excluding experience for some
older women, and that widowhood can be compounded by age-related illness, and the loss of social
relationships and roles in later life. The research has a number of implications for practice with older
women who are widows.

Citation

Collins, T. (2014). Managing widowhood in later life : the challenges encountered. International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 21(2), 69-76. https://doi.org/10.12968/ijtr.2014.21.2.69

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Feb 21, 2014
• Journal: International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation
• Print ISSN: 1741-1645
• Publisher: MA Healthcare
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 69-76
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/ijtr.2014.21.2.69
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.12968/ijtr.2014.21.2.69
• Related Public URLs: http://www.markallengroup.com/ma-healthcare/healthcare-publications/international-journal-of-therapy-and-rehabilitation/; http://www.magonlinelibrary.com/toc/ijtr/current