The purpose of this study was to better understand how older widows recover from bereavement after their husbands death. The second aim was to find out about common recovery methods and also if there were any particular personal qualities which helped the widows to regain strength after their loss. The study is based on qualitative interviews with seven widows at the minimum age of 75 years. The essay has a phenomenological approach and include three theories; psychodynamic theory, crisis theory and sense of coherence. The results are analyzed on the basis of five themes which were consistently in all of the interviews. The conclusion of the study is that one of the most important thing when older widow try to recover from bereavement is their possibility to talk about their grief. Other helpful things in recovery work for widows were their faith in God and the support they received from their church. Another important factor, is how widows who mourn can find solace in the relationship with their pet.

Background: The death of a child can be a devastating experience for many parents; research suggests it results in an intense and enduring grief which can negatively impact on parents' psychological well-being. Parents with surviving children face the task of navigating their own grief and continuing to parent. Surviving children's responses to the loss of a sibling is complex and sometimes problematic; it is suggested that family functioning is a key aspect of the sibling's response. Psychological literature shows that sibling bereavement has been under-researched (Woodrow, 2007) with little attention given to the quality of the emotional relationship between parent and child, before and after sibling loss. Aims: Research to explore the stories of bereaved parents and how they experienced their emotional relationship with their surviving children after the death of another child can build on and expand existing literature; resulting in suggestions for clinical psychologist on how to better support surviving relationships at this difficult time. Methodology: Qualitative methods allow for richness, context and allow parents to tell stories of their emotional relationships with surviving children. Stories are the way in which we give order and meaning to the events in our lives (Gilbert, 2010). Consequently, a narrative analysis was viewed as the most epistemologically and ethically appropriate research method; and most appropriate to answer the research question. Analysis and Findings: Parents told stories of connection and disconnection in their emotional relationship with their surviving children after the death of another child in the family. Emotional connection and disconnection is influenced by the competing and potentially incompatible tasks of 'parenting' and 'grieving'. Stories of connection with surviving children were constructed as 'putting my living children first' and 'avoiding the fog' of grief; these stories illustrated less connection to the deceased child and parental grief. Conversely, stories of disconnection with surviving children were constructed as getting 'stuck in the fog' of grief and 'remembering'; these stories illustrated more connection to the deceased child and parental grief.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Perinatal deaths are emotion-laden events not only for the mothers, but also for physicians and midwives. Hence, mothers experiencing the phenomenon need support to overcome the experience. If the loss occurs in a health institution, the responsibility of supporting the woman is borne by healthcare providers, particularly midwives. However, limited information exists on how midwives manage patients who experience perinatal loss in health institutions. Consequently, this study on midwives' experiences of managing patients' perinatal loss at a maternity hospital in the Western Cape, South Africa was conducted. The aim of the study was to explore midwives' management of patients with perinatal loss. The study utilised a qualitative research design and employs a phenomenological approach. Purposive sampling was used to select eight registered midwives to participate in the study. Data was collected by means of in-depth unstructured interviews, which were audio-recorded. It was then analysed by utilising Colaizzi's (1978) steps of phenomenological data analysis. Four themes emerged from the data, namely, knowledge of perinatal loss, challenges when managing patients, managing perinatal loss, and getting emotionally involved. Themes were informed by several subthemes. In addition, implication on practice indicates that improving support to mothers with pregnancy loss requires a multi-disciplinary approach or teamwork from various professionals in order to enhance mutual collaboration between families and healthcare workers. The study concludes that nursing education programmes should be reviewed to ensure that they include midwives' needs in the area of managing clients experiencing a perinatal loss. Hence, student midwives should be given more clinical experience of caring for bereaved couples under supervision, as well as compassionate support, which would assist them to develop these skills before they graduate.

M.A. / Death and loss accompany us throughout our lives and are experienced in a variety of forms and situations. Numerous researches have been undertaken to gain some perspective on death. and loss, however these attempts have proven to be impersonal, incomplete and of limited use, as death tends to evade direct scrutiny. An attempt is made here to observe death and loss from a stance that respects the human element. The personal experiences of adults who have lost parent/s at a young age are examined. This paper explores the constructions of death and loss, as well as the meanings that are attributed to these experiences. A social constructionist approach is used to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the participants' relationships with death and loss. One of the primary aims of this paper is to investigate the implications that these constructions of death and loss have for the way people live and make sense of their lives. This study focusses on how death requires the individual to reconstruct a sense of identity and relationship with the world. Some of the major conceptualisations of death, loss and mourning are reviewed in conjunction with the input of philosophers, poets and creative writers allowing for a richer, fuller perception of these events. The aim of this paper is not to develop a comprehensive understanding of death and loss, but rather to approach these constructs from a more personal perspective. This paper moves away from modernist thinking and includes the researcher as a participant where personal biases, experiences and understandings are included.

D.Litt. et Phil. / This study explores the process of meaning-making for parents who have lost an adult child where the cause of death was a stigmatised illness. In order to shed light on the phenomenon under review, an investigation of existing research literature was undertaken. A particular focal point in respect of the review as a whole, is the exploration of how the experience of parental bereavement motivates the search for meaning and the possible significance of this meaning in the continued life of the bereaved parent. The review comprises an overview of theoretical approaches to bereavement and the various factors which determine the grief experience. These include an examination of factors surrounding the loss, personal factors and coping skills, as well as an outline of familial, cultural and social aspects. A further focus of the review, is on the process of meaning making especially with regard to death and suffering. The review explores the issues of stigma and the process of stigmatisation. How stigma attaches to an attribute and issues of disclosure are areas of focus, in particular the effect of stigma in respect of HIV/AIDS. The focus of the study is on the world of the lived experienced as it is interpreted by participants in order to produce an understanding of the participants’ experience. Hence the study is sited within a phenomenological framework. Six participants were interviewed with the intention to act as informants who are able to give rich and abundant descriptions of their experience. All participants have experienced the loss of an adult offspring as a result of a long-term illness. The children of three of the participants died as a result of an AIDS-related illness, which is currently a stigmatised illness in South Africa, and the children of three participants have died as a result of cancer, which is a long-term terminal illness which is not currently stigmatised in South Africa. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. An interwoven analysis was presented in order to identify the themes and experiences of such bereavement which emerged from the transcripts. An attempt was made to understand how the various phenomena relating to parental bereavement were reflected by participants in the interviews. The study also sought to compare areas of commonality and divergence between participants whose children have died from cancer and those who have died as a result of AIDS, so as to present an integrated delineation of themes. Finally the study presents a reflection of the experience of the researcher and recommendations for therapeutic practice which arise from the conclusions of the study. There is an evaluation as regards the strengths and limitations of the study and recommendations for future research. The unique contribution of the study to the field of psychology is also addressed.

Studies have indicated that the loss of a child to violence is a traumatic experience that can leave mothers in an unmitigated state of suffering and trepidation. Available research suggests that Black mothers who suffer disproportionately from violent loss, their experience of loss while individualized, is grounded in social contexts. The following phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of three Black mothers who have lost a child to homicide. This study explores the social phenomenon associated with losing a “Black” child to homicide and the grieving and bereavement experience of the surviving mother. Analysis revealed that the themes of race, gender and class are defining facets that intensify and compound the conditions of grief for Black mothers. This study concludes with recommendations in hopes of helping others begin to understand all that is lost and what must be understood when a Black Mother losses her child to homicide.

The purpose of the study was to explore and describe nursing learners’ experiences with regard to caring for mothers after stillbirth deliveries at selected public hospitals in Gauteng province. A qualitative approach was used to conduct the study. The population consisted of all the second, third and fourth year learners registered for the Diploma in General Nursing (General, Community, Psychiatry) and Midwifery who had been allocated to the obstetric section of five selected public hospitals in the province. Purposive sampling was used to select participants from nursing learners who had taken care of mothers after stillbirth deliveries. Five focus group interviews and reflective journals were used to collect data. Data was analysed according to Tesch’s method by the researcher and an independent co-coder. The following categories emerged from the findings: experiences of learners when caring for mothers after a stillbirth delivery; interaction with the mother of the stillborn infant; and changing emotions within the same environment. It was recommended that further research be conducted in other public hospitals to determine the needs of learners when caring for mothers after stillbirth deliveries. Extensive research to be conducted regarding emotional and academic support required by learners in order to empower them to care for mothers after stillbirth deliveries. The nursing curriculum to make provision for outcomes on bereavement and grief for nursing staff and learners. / Dissertation (MCur)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Nursing Science / unrestricted

Sorg kan förekomma i många skeden i livet och sjuksköterskor kan i sitt arbete komma i kontakt med sörjande personer. Sjuksköterskors ansvar är att förebygga ohälsa hos såväl närstående som patient och då sorgeprocessen är komplex kan sjuksköterskorna anse det svårt att bemöta den sörjande på ett adekvat vis. Syftet med studien var att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av faktorer som påverkar bemötandet av närstående i sorg. Metod: Studien utformades som en allmän litteraturstudie med induktiv ansats. Resultatet utgjordes av nio vetenskapliga artiklar som sammanställdes i fyra kategorier: Stressande arbetsmiljö, Hantering av egen osäkerhet, Motivation och Vårdande relation. Slutsats: Flera olika faktorer bidrog till att sjuksköterskorna erfor en stressande arbetsmiljö, vilket ledde till att deras bemötande av närstående i sorg påverkades negativt. Sjuksköterskorna erfor en osäkerhet i att bemöta närstående i sorg, vilket de kopplade till för lite erfarenhet och utbildning. Även om det var svårt kände sjuksköterskorna sig motiverade att bemöta närstående i sorg och en djup relation dem emellan kunde ofta utvecklas som gynnade den närståendes sorgehantering. Ytterligare forskning behövs för att kunna möjliggöra en förbättring av sjuksköterskors bemötande av närstående i sorg. / Grief may occur in many stages in life and nurses are meeting grieving people throughout their work. Nurses responsibility is to prevent illness in both families and patients and with the complexity in the grieving process nurses can find it difficult to meet grieving people adequately. The aim of this study was to describe nurses’ experiences of factors influencing the meeting with families in grief. Method: The study was conducted as a structured literature review with an inductive approach. The result was constructed by nine scientific articles compiled in four categories: Stressful work environment, Coping with own uncertainty, Motivation and Nursing relationship. Conclusion: Several different factors contributed to the nurses experiencing a stressful work environment, affecting their meeting with families in grief negatively. Nurses experienced uncertainty in their meeting with families in grief, which they linked to a lack of experience and education. Even though it was difficult, the nurses felt motivated to meet families in grief and a deep relationship could be formed between them which affected the grieving process positively. Further research is needed to enable an improvement of nurses meeting families in grief.

The researcher examined the effectiveness of a near-death experience (NDE) learning module on reducing distressing aspects and enhancing a growth aspect of grief among bereaved adults. Participants were 22 females and 2 males; 2 identified as African American, 3 as Asian, 2 as Latina/o, and 17 as White; aged 20 to 71 years with mean age 35.3 years. In this experimental design, the researcher randomly assigned 12 participants to the experimental group and 12 participants to the waitlist no treatment control group. Participants in the experimental group received the NDE learning module intervention, which consisted of 3 sessions over consecutive weeks. Six research questions were explored. A two-factor repeated measures analysis of variance was performed on five dependent variables to determine if the two groups performed differently across time according to the pretest and posttest results of the Despair, Panic Behavior, Personal Growth, Detachment, and Disorganization subscales of the Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist (HGRC). A one-way analysis of covariance was performed on one dependent variable to determine if the groups were statistically different according to the posttest results of the Blame and Anger subscale of the HGRC. Additionally, univariate eta squared was hand calculated to determine practical significance. Findings indicated that bereaved adults who participated in the NDE learning module showed small effect size for interaction on Panic Behavior (&#951;2 = .05) and Personal Growth (&#951;2 = .05), large effect size for interaction on Detachment (&#951;2 = .15), large effect size for treatment type on Blame and Anger (&#951;2 = .15), and negligible effect size for interaction on Despair (&#951;2 < .01) and Disorganization (&#951;2 < .01). Although no statistically significant results were found for any of the dependent variables (p > .05), effect size findings indicated modest to substantial benefits of the NDE learning module intervention for bereaved adults in the form of decreased panic behavior, blame and anger, and detachment, and increased personal growth. Implications for further research beyond this initial investigation are discussed.

No description available.