Beyond widowhood: Do prior discovered themes that describe the experiences of older Australian widowed women persist over time?

ABSTRACT

In previous cross-sectional studies researchers have explored the experiences of widowed women in the 1921–1926 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health and identified three major themes: health, social relationships and support, and financial and structural issues. In the current study the authors examine longitudinal data collected over 15 years to assess whether these themes persisted and/or evolved over time. The sample included 162 widowed women aged 70–90 years. Thematic analysis was used with a constant comparison method. Many women reported good health despite managing comorbidities. Social relationships frequently shifted from friends to family to more formal support. Most financial and structural issues related to managing increasing health costs as women aged. These results confirmed that the three major themes previously reported persisted over time, and underscore the importance of continuing to support women, and their changing needs, well beyond the initial period of bereavement.

KEYWORDS:

• Financial
• health
• longitudinal
• qualitative
• social support
• widow

Acknowledgments

The research on which this article is based was conducted as part of the ALSWH, the University of Newcastle, and the University of Queensland. We are grateful to the women who provided the survey data. This research was also supported by infrastructure and staff of the Priority Research Centre for Generational Health and Ageing, who are members of the Hunter Medical Research Institute.

Funding

We are grateful to the Australian Government Department of Health for funding.

Additional information

Funding

We are grateful to the Australian Government Department of Health for funding.