The role of theory in understanding grief

Prolonged grief, reconstruction of meaning, and posttraumatic growth in nursing home residents who have lost loved ones

AIM

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics, prolonged grief, meaning reconstruction, and posttraumatic growth of elderly individuals who have lost loved ones.

METHODS

A total of 122 elderly individuals who had lost loved ones were included in the research conducted in a nursing home.

RESULTS

The levels of Prolonged Grief Inventory (PG-13), Grief and Meaning Reconstruction Inventory (GMRI), and Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) scale were found to be high among the individuals in the study. While the PG-13 scores of single individuals who have lost their spouses are statistically significantly higher compared to married individuals, the scores for GMRI are higher for elderly individuals with chronic illness and expected death compared to those who have experienced sudden loss. A significant negative correlation was also determined between PG-13, GMRI, and PTG scores.

CONCLUSION

Counseling to reconstruct grief and meaning is recommended for at-risk groups. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 364-370.

Digital storytelling: Narrating meaning in bereavement

Individuals who cannot make sense of a significant death are more likely to experience bereavement complications than those who are able to reconcile their loss with existing or newly-developed ways of understanding the world. Digital Storytelling, a multi-media narrative technique, has been identified as a potential facilitator of meaning-making processes. In this secondary qualitative analysis, researchers described the meaning-making processes evident in bereaved individuals' (N = 14) personally-created digital stories, identifying sense making, benefit finding, continuing bonds, shifting identity, and addressing unfinished business. Findings support prior research and enrich emerging understandings of arts-based interventions as tools to facilitate and communicate meaning-making processes.

Grief and Loss Among Veterans With Spinal Cord Injury: A Qualitative Study

PURPOSE

The objective of this study was to understand veteran perspectives of grief/loss associated with their spinal cord injury (SCI).

DESIGN/METHODS

Qualitative descriptive design using semistructured interviews with veterans with SCI (n = 15) was performed using interview questions informed by the literature. Analysis was conducted using a deductive/inductive approach.

RESULTS

The 15 participants' mean age was 64 years; six had paraplegia, eight had tetraplegia, one had unknown level of injury, six were ambulatory, and nine were not ambulatory. The grief/loss experience was individual and constant, consisting of seven phases: experiencing shock, releasing emotion, withdrawing, focusing on losses, problem solving, realizing strength and motivation, and accepting a new life. Veteran coping strategies used in each phase of the grief experience were also identified, as well as triggers that increased or decreased the grief/loss experience.

CONCLUSIONS/CLINICAL RELEVANCE

A better understanding of veterans living with SCI grief experience, coping strategies, and triggering events can help healthcare providers support veterans with SCI.

Meaning reconstruction in bereavement: Development of a research program

The death of a significant person, especially when it comes tragically or prematurely, can shake the foundations of our assumptive and relational world and lead to anguished attempts to find meaning in the loss and in our lives in its aftermath. In this article, I review one program of research focused on this attempt at meaning reconstruction, describe recently developed measures of meaning in mourning, and discuss several therapeutic techniques for helping clients make sense of the death and rework their attachment relationship to the deceased. I conclude by illustrating some of this work in my therapy with a couple grieving the loss of not one but two children to tragic accidents, as they try to adapt to a compound traumatic bereavement.