"The deceased has left; the alive has to move on": Experiences of Chinese Widows in the UK

Relatively little is known about the experiences of Chinese widows, especially those living outside China. This qualitative study examines the experiences of eight Chinese or Hong Kong-born widows living in the UK. Using a semistructured approach to interviewing, participants were asked about their lives before, during, and after their spousal bereavement. Five major themes emerged: (1) complexity of marital lives; (2) experiences around the time of the death including fate; (3) loneliness and isolation; (4) the challenges of practical tasks; and finally, (5) current life. The implications of the findings for social policy and practice are briefly discussed.

Psychological Response to Later Life Widowhood: Coping and the Effects of Gender

The study examined the effects of psychological response and gender on coping with late life widowhood. Forty-six men and 46 women (55 years +) were interviewed about their experiences of widowhood. Participants were classified as to whether they were coping well or less well. Data were analyzed using grounded theory, content analysis, and three-way loglinear analyses. Loglinear analyses revealed three-way interactions for Gender, Coping, and Response. Men who report feeling upset or selfish are more likely to be coping, as are women who report being comfortable alone. There were two-way interactions between Coping and Response and Gender and Response. Participants who talk to their dead spouse are more likely to be coping than those who do not. Those who “keep themselves to themselves” are more likely not to be coping than those who do not. Gender differences were found in psychological response. Differences were also found between those who coped and those who coped less well. The study has enabled the synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data to present a more complete view of late life widowhood than has previously been possible. In addition, the article draws attention to the importance of distinguishing between the effects of bereavement and those of widowhood.

Why Did He Die? the Attributions of Cause of Death among Women Widowed in Later Life

The study aimed to examine the causal attributions of death made spontaneously by older widowed women to explain the deaths of their husbands. The data presented are from two qualitative interview studies using the same methodology. There were 65 widows aged between 55 and 93 years old who had been widowed between 0.25 and 60 years. Data were analysed using a grounded theory method and content analysis. Nearly half of the women gave causal explanations for why their husbands died. These explanations can be best understood in terms of lay illness attributions. These results indicate that a broad analysis of cause of death attributions is important in understanding the bereavement experience. The function of attributions in post-bereavement experiences is also examined.

Wellbeing in Bereavement and Widowhood

This article will examine how beveavement and widowhood affect wellbeing drawing on psychological, gerontological, and sociological research. The article will begin with an outline of what is meant by bereavement and widowhood. It will then present an overview of the effects that bereavement and widowhood has on wellbeing. In the next section, a brief history of approaches to bereavement will be presented. Next, more recent approaches will be discussed including the Dual Process Model of Bereavement (Stroebe & Schut, 1999), and a discussion of the debate concerning continuing and relinquishing bonds. The focus will then turn to factors which influence wellbeing with a focus both on pre- and post-bereavement experiences, and on such factors as age and gender. Finally, there will be a discussion of factors which may enhance wellbeing, such as resilience, identity reconstruction, and coping strategies.

Untaming Grief ? For Palliative Care Physicians

Little doubt (if any) remains as to the assured importance of physicians possessing praxis regarding psychosocial issues, including grief dynamics, in order to tend to dying and sorrowing people. It stands to reason then that palliative care physicians become knowledgeable enough about the phenomenon of grief. But imperative nuances must also be considered: what sort of knowledge on grief, as well as how much of such knowledge, is enough? This article poses topical queries on the importance of the palliative care physician exercising a deliberate agenda to persistently refine one’s personal framework or beliefs regarding grief. In doing so, it is proposed physicians will engender improved self-knowledge, which will serve to better poise themselves toward being with and purposefully encountering aggrieved others.

Loss and restoration in later life: an examination of dual process model of coping with bereavement

The Dual Process Model (DPM) of Coping with Bereavement identified two oscillating coping processes, loss and restoration (Stroebe & Schut, 1999). The utility of the model is investigated in two studies. In the first, we carried out secondary analyses on a large-scale qualitative study that we had conducted previously. In the second, we conducted a small-scale study specifically examining the DPM. In the first study we re-examined the interviews for Loss- (LO) and Restoration-Oriented (RO) Coping and examined whether these were associated with psychological adjustment. The results showed that those adjusting well reported the stressors New Roles/Identities/ Relationships and Intrusion of Grief significantly more. Those adjusting less well reported the stressors Denial/Avoidance of Restoration Changes and Distraction/Avoidance of Grief significantly more. In the second study, we asked participants about four RO stressors of the DPM: Attending to Life Changes; New Roles/Identities/Relationships; Distraction from Grief; and New Activities. These data showed that not all participants experienced all aspects of RO Coping. In particular, participants had diverse views about the utility of Distraction from Grief as a coping mechanism. The article concludes by discussing the challenges of testing the DPM empirically.