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

Aim To 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? Design Systematic review. Data sources Academic Search Elite, CINAHL, Medline (Ovid) and PubMed were searched...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nursing open 2019-04, Vol.6 (2), p.591-611
Main Authors: Holm, Anne Lise, Berland, Astrid Karin, Severinsson, Elisabeth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
bereavement
depression
emotional pain
Emotions
Evidence-based nursing
Grief
Health
Mental depression
Mental health
older adults
Older people
Review
Systematic review
widowhood
Widows & widowers
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Summary:Aim To 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? Design Systematic review. Data sources Academic Search Elite, CINAHL, Medline (Ovid) and PubMed were searched for articles published between January 2013–December 2017. Review methods A systematic review of quantitative research with a qualitative thematic analysis. Results The 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.
ISSN:2054-1058
2054-1058
DOI:10.1002/nop2.243