The life experiences of elderly widows: A qualitative research

Title: The Life Experiences of Elderly Widows –  A Qualitative Research
Introduction: Improving life quality, increasing life- span and life expectancy had lead to aging. In all societies these people face problems due to their physical – cognitive impairments. On the other hand life expectancy in men is less than women and finally elderly widows are more than men who live without their spouse. It's a fact that should be considered for health care planning in order to improve their life-styles. This study is to describe life experiences of elderly widows.
Method: We used a phenomenological approach. Participants were selected from Isfahan elderly widows. Sampling was done with the help of target bases method and at  last 11 cases were selected.
They were interviewed and data was collected , recorded and analyzed by Colizie's method. Validity and reliability of the current study are based on 4 factors: real value, practical characteristic, persistency and it's real – life source.
Findings: The interview text was analyzed and specific codes were derived and categorized in 5 main concepts:
1) Relation
2) Physical heath prospective
3) Psychological health prospective
4) Needs
5) Social prospective

 

Discussion and conclusion: Results showed that elderly widows experience a wide rang of needs in different physical, psychological and social aspects. Following several physical experiences, they need sympathy to care their impairments. A proportion of this care is supplied by their relatives and the other part by social services. After the spouse death, financial problems promote widows to be more dependants and face them with challenges in order to afford health care needs, of course they're not always satisfied with these needs. Our findings emphasize on some important matters such as: how their children should communicate them, public education about aging, recognizing elderly people needs, a comprehensive supporting plan and to enforce positive attitudes toward them.