<p> The population of older adults living longer and healthier lives is increasing. As age increases, the likelihood of single status increases. Without someone to offer peer intimacy, loneliness becomes a factor for decreased well-being. Research is needed to gain insight into later life romantic love and commitment to offer support for those seeking companionship, love, and intimacy to live more generative and robust later lives, ameliorating the physical and emotional effects of loneliness. Women are more likely to be alone in late life and research is needed to explore experiences with the phenomenon of love in later life from their perspective. This study employed a qualitative transcendental phenomenological methodology, gathering data from interviews, observations, and documentation in order to provide an interpretive description of all the women in the study with the shared experience of love and commitment to a new partner in later life. The study offers insight to families, caregivers, community service providers, and medical professionals supporting the partnership needs of older women. The results also provide a voice for late life women, an underrepresented population in research and literature, who choose love and commitment in later life.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3728038 |
| Date | 10 December 2015 |
| Creators | Moore, Teresa J. |
| Publisher | Capella University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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