Living beyond the Unanticipated Sudden Death of a Partner: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

This research project explored grief and its impact upon men and women who have experienced the sudden and unanticipated death of his or her partner. It included what grief meant to them, how it was manifested in his or her everyday lives and how his or her partner's death had impacted upon his or her relationship with themselves, with others and the world. A Husserlian phenomenological approach was used to explore the experiences of the ten women and five men whose partner had died up to five years prior to being interviewed. The need for the surviving partner to continue to participate in everyday life placed great strain upon the internal resources of the surviving partner. The surviving partner needed to reinvent him or herself, in an attempt to become independent and regain functionality, whilst dealing with the sadness and loss that they had experienced. The surviving partner discovered that a new life order emerged that included hope, optimism, planning for the future and perhaps the prospect of a new relationship. The death of a partner left the surviving partner with a loss that would always be a part of them, with the memories of his or her relationship being maintained within them that will never be replaced by somebody else. The results of this research project reinforce the need for ongoing education of the community in grief and bereavement issues in order to increase the awareness of the support needs of the bereaved person. The length of time and amount of energy required to incorporate the experience into the survivor's life, is greatly underestimated by the community, and perhaps by some of the health and caring professionals. Colonial and hospital based bereavement support services need to be established and be proactive using outreach programs, actively offering the suddenly bereaved partner and family support and information.

Nurses’ experiences of caring for the suddenly bereaved in adult acute and critical care settings, and the provision of person-centred care: A qualitative study

“…The study findings infer that wellbeing may be enhanced by the provision of immediate and longer-term support. The satisfaction to be gained from further contact could be mutually felt through a programme of follow-up with bereaved families (Downar et al, 2014;Rodger et al, 2006;Williams et al, 2003). Likewise, debriefing sessions could help nurses to reflect on the feelings they experienced while caring for suddenly bereaved families and give closure to the events (Socorro et al, 2001).…”

“…However, practice also needs to be underpinned by knowledge and understanding of what is known about EoLC (Coombs, 2013). The findings of a study by Rodger et al (2006) reinforced the need for on-going education to increase awareness of the support needs of the suddenly bereaved person.…”

“…The evidence base of research published in the last decade (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) is limited to a small number of published studies specific to the experiences of suddenly bereaved families (Brysiewicz, 2008;Dale et al, 2013;Rejnö et al, 2013;Rodger et al, 2006). Research into the needs of the suddenly bereaved is both sparse and dated (Fanslow, 1983;Fraser and Atkins, 1990;Li et al, 2002;Tye, 1993).…”

Stress-related growth among the recently bereaved

“…Also, if the death is anticipated, the grief experience can begin prior to the actual loss, providing an opportunity to process the situation sooner and potentially begin to reconstruct the assumptive world (Schaefer & Moos, 2001). A death that is sudden may require more time for the survivor to make sense of what happened (Rodger, Sherwood, O’Connor, & Leslie, 2006). …”

Terapia cognitivo-comportamental para luto pela morte súbita de cônjuge

“…No caso de morte de cônjuge, os parceiros sobreviventes sofrem grande pressão social para rapidamente retornarem às suas rotinas, tendo seus recursos internos fortemente mobilizados para conseguirem lidar com a tristeza e, simultaneamente, retomarem sua funcionalidade 8 . Pacientes em luto apresentam maior incidên-cia de problemas psicossomáticos, busca por atendimento médico para queixas orgânicas e maior número de internações do que a população geral 9,10 .…”