Full Description
Get a fresh perspective on how older women adapt to life without a spouse!
Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again examines new perspectives on the problems older women face adjusting to life without a spouse. The book examines the transition from the togetherness of marriage to the solitude of being suddenly single, exploring how older widows and divorcees adapt. A multidisciplinary panel of practitioners, researchers, and academics addresses the challenges facing elderly women after a divorce or the death of a spouse, including issues of physical and psychological well-being (clinical depression, nutrition), economics (reduced Social Security benefits, loss of pension income, health care costs), social support (public policy, counseling), and living arrangements.
Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again presents fresh insights into the challenges single women face as they age, including disability and chronic health problems, threats to economic security, and the need for assistance with normal activities of daily living. The book examines the increased hospitalization risk for widowed older women, the protective efforts of social contacts, the impact of minority group status on projected retirement income, care arrangement choices, coping with bereavement, and the changing balance between co-residence with families and institutional care. Interviews, data projections, and research studies offer particular focus on women of Mexican-American and African-American descent, and women living in England and Wales, Africa, and the north and south Pacific.
Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again addresses:
the importance of family support
the importance of religion and spirituality in coping with loss
maintaining social connections
maintaining independence
the baby boom cohort
and much more!
Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again is an insightful examination of the concerns, issues, and problems facing older women who live without a spouse but within specific social and cultural networks from which they receive support.
Contents
Introduction: Widows and Divorcees in Later Life
Increased Hospitalization Risk for Recently Widowed Older Women and Protective Effects of Social Contacts
Health, Widowhood, and Family Support in the North and South Pacific: A Comparative Study
African Widows: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives
The Impact of Minority Group Status on the Projected Retirement Income of Divorced Women in the Baby Boom Cohort
Gender, Widowhood, and Long-Term Care in the Older Mexican American Population
Transitions to Supported Environments in England and Wales Among Elderly Widowed and Divorced Women: The Changing Balance Between Co-Residence with Family and Institutional Care
Care Arrangement Choices for Older Widows: Decision Participants' Perspectives
Widowhood and Spirituality: Coping Responses to Bereavement
Not on Their Own Again: Psychological, Social, and Health Characteristics of Custodial African American Grandmothers
Conclusions
About the Contributors
Index
Reference Notes Included
