Introduction
Elderly people are fragile individuals whose body tissues have deteriorated over time. This has led to development of chronic conditions (Rossheim & McAdams, 2010). In addition, the conditions have affected their daily functioning. The conditions range from physical impairment to internal complications. This often results in acute pain. Most countries have reported a rapid increase in the number of adults experiencing chronic pain. In addition to physical and mental pains, elderly people are often affected by the death of a beloved. This has triggered governments to increase their allocations in the health sectors. It is paramount that these pains are brought under control to enable elderly individuals enjoy life by eliminating suffering. Loss is a common phenomenon in the society. Loss of a beloved always causes grief to the remaining parties. Elders get little or no attention at all during this time of grief (Pearce, 2010). This is because of the general assumption that the aged persons have experience in handling adverse situations. The absence of prudent ways to establish the magnitude of grief caused by pain to the elderly people does not rule out their bereavement. It is paramount to manage grief and make sure that individuals can go through a loss with much ease. With the increased rates of affected individuals, counselors and other psychologists must devise ways of bringing the situation under control (Chow, 2010). This article looks at several aspects that aid in management of pain caused by grief.
The experience of grief and its impact on older people and their families
Aging is one of the most natural processes in life. Elderly people have therefore undergone several stages in their life including childhood, teenage age and adulthood. Several myths have been advanced about these senior individuals in the society. Elderly people are capable of adopting lifestyles that caution them against health disorders. The persons have in their course of living passed through several life changes. Some of these changes have had adverse effects in their wellbeing. Due to the nature of body deterioration, elderly people opt for retirement. The effects of retirement on these senior citizens have been underestimated (McFerran, Roberts, & O’Grady, 2010). Work is an important aspect of life, and the loss of it draws a lot of disappointment and grief to the elderly. Elders feel appreciated when they are the breadwinners. Some of them fail to incorporate concrete plans in their work life and only realize the complexity of retirement when that age comes. This is one of the sources of grief to the elderly people as they feel the effects of the loss. These individuals feel that they are becoming odd in the society as they depend on others and their immediate family for survival (Bergman, Haley & Small, 2010). In addition, many believe retirement is a source of family hitches as it affects the foundations of relationships, both nuclear and extended relationships. There is an assertion that retirement is the beginning of stressful life of an elderly person. However, some individuals view retirement as a source of happiness. Freedom is an aspect that is looked upon by many before joining the retirement pool. Some of these individuals had sound plans in the course of their working periods.
The loss of beloved ones is a common issue in the modern world. Bereavement cannot be avoided as death takes a natural course also referred to as fate (Moon, 2011). The most affected people during such natural occurrences are the elder persons. Most scholars are of the opinion that this is due to the wider network and associations of the elderly. The probability that these deaths occur to a close individual of an old person is high. The magnitude of the grieving is much related to the closeness of the elderly person to that individual. The people who are close to the older people are their friends, former work mates, partners and family members. Grief is depicted in a number of ways, which are often weighty. The initial and most common of death is fear. When a beloved dies, the older people believe that death was also knocking at their door. This is because of the common belief that the elderly are on the death line. Grief comes with mixed feelings; some individuals are in denial of what happened while others are angered by the death. Accepting the reality of the situation is a prudent way of avoiding mental distress. The effects of deaths hit the old people hard. Considering a close relative passed away, this implies that the elder is to take the responsibility of the home to ensure the family is taken care of (Wrenn & Wrenn, 2009).
Failure to accept and accommodate the loss and grief has adverse negative effects on the mental state of the elders. This may result into acute pain, affecting the day-to-day life. In addition, the feeling of happiness will be largely affected due to the cropping in of depression (Marlowe, Hodgson, & Lamson, 2010). Depression is an ailment that affects the general wellbeing of a person, both internal and external. It nurtures chronic internal pains and deterioration of the physical health of the affected individual. Loss of a breadwinner is often a sad thing to many families. The income flow of the family is affected hugely. In most instances, the old people take responsibility to cater for the needs of these persons. These individuals in most case are vulnerable in the society (Xu, Yan, & Duan, 2009). The trauma and grief caused by the loss affect the emotional wellbeing of the aggrieved families. They are deprived of their source of inspiration.
The process of dying and health management practices
The life of an individual is always unique in different ways. The feelings attached to the death of an individual depends on his/her status in the society. During the mourning process, elders tend to evaluate themselves to ascertain the magnitude of their impact in the society. The separation caused by death also triggers several thoughts to the mourning individuals. These thoughts range from responsibility issues to perceptions about the general nature of life. There is always a mental development of death itself and before the real fate; individuals view life in their way. However, death is a real changer of perceptions as it strengthens the conscious mind. The initial developments in the mind are altered largely and affected individuals are at ease to accommodate future happenings (Gibson, Gallagher & Jenkins 2010). Most of the individuals who have been exposed to the wrath of death especially of a young family member are no longer scared of it. The scared people in their initial mental developments had attached death to suffering of their beloved ones. However, upon the occurrence of these deaths, individuals have changed drastically their views towards life. In addition, the cautiousness of individual mortality is nurtured.
Several persons learn to appreciate the natural happenings and their mortality when faced with life shocks. Moreover, individuals result to the belief in a deity, where they surrender their mortal life to a supreme being. The nature of life transformation is huge. The bereaved individuals tend to appreciate the nature and usefulness of life when the disaster strikes. This helps the elderly develop a stress free environment to enable them enjoy their life to the fullest. Dying is phenomena that change perspectives and helps people appreciate life (Breen, 2009). Most bereaved individuals learn it the hard way to appreciate persons when still alive. Some among them decide to live and enjoy life fully. This important aspect minimizes the stress levels and depression caused by these deaths. The elderly can appreciate every second of life because of the uncertainty of living. Most individuals who die in their old age pose a challenge to the young population. The amount of years lived and the achievement act as a wakeup call to those who had minimal value of life.
Preparing for death is an important aspect in life. This will ease the pain inflicted by the loss of a beloved. Individuals who learn to appreciate every aspect of life can handle the uncertainty of death with much ease unlike those who failed to. In this contemporary society, individuals have exaggerated material value than life value (Lobb, Kristjanson & Aoun, 2010). This has deprived individuals their valuable time to be with their beloved ones. Appreciation of individuals daily and treating them well adds value and enjoyment to life. Death shocks the foundation of a family especially when the breadwinner of a household is affected. It is therefore paramount to prepare for any eventuality to minimize the aftershocks of fate. Having several persons who fit into the shoes of the breadwinner can save the family a lot of grief as it easily brings normalcy. On the other hand, death triggers personal development. The amount of life reflection with a beloved natures self-growth and makes an individual strong to handle future eventualities (Braiden, McCann & Barry, 2009).
Death transforms the viewing of life. Affected individuals undergo major transformation, both mental and physical. First and foremost, acute shock; there is a lot of confusion at the time of death of a beloved. Life often seems to have come to an abrupt end. Secondly, there is an urge to change and transform ones perception about life. The old people tend to reflect much on the past happenings in their life with the loved ones. The somber reflections enable them accept the reality and reduce the mysteries of death. Thirdly, the distress of death triggers the need for new behavior to accommodate the disaster (Blackman, 2008).
From the aforementioned issues, it is apparent that bereavement is a mode of learning. The process of bereavement enables the elderly to accommodate and be able to handle life with ease. This decreases the level of depression that could otherwise cause both mental and physical damage. The changes realized during the process of bereavement are in relation to myths of life/ death. However, the bereavement process has its challenges. The shock of the loss may be acute to both the elders and children. This prevents them from incorporating the components advanced in their living. This therefore calls for experts to chip in and tackle the issue to defuse the shock and enhance accommodation. Adult educators need to be well versed with the components of bereavement to help the living go through the process successfully (Sands, & Tennant, 2010). The health practitioners need to ensure that the elders enjoy a good state of health. This largely relies on their handling of bereavement and mortality issue. The emotional nature of the aggrieved parties needs to be taken care of. Health practitioners and family doctors also have a responsibility to play to enable the aggrieved family cope with the loss. They are the individuals who are well versed with the anatomy of humans. They also command a lot of respect in the society and their words are often taken seriously. Depending on the magnitude of the stress associated with the loss, the medical practitioners are free to call for counselors and psychologists to salvage the situation (Maunu & Stein, 2010).
The challenges of bereavement
The passing away of a beloved is more often than not a stressful event. The death results into difficult challenges to those left behind. This entails not only the immediate family but also friends and workmates of the person. Considering the loss affects a family breadwinner, the financial challenges are ultimate at the course of bereavement and after. The state of the immediate spouses is also largely affected by the loss. Bereavement is a stressful state as persons are trying to come to terms with the happenings. Therefore, there is high risk of psychological disorders. The trauma associated with the death needs to be handled by professionals. This care, both mental and physical will address the stress issues and other related health factors. The rapport created by the medical practitioners will enable them handle the issues successfully (Renner, 2011b). In addition, dissemination of information and psychological assistance is of utmost importance when handling the affected individuals. This helps minimize the immediate shock of the death. Early bereavement is important to help the aggrieved come in terms with the shock and develop their strength towards life. The support which is given ranges from psychological to financial. Economic advice will help them address the distress of finance. The assistance was given by experts also depends with the level of awareness of the aggrieved family on the existence of these services (Bergman, Haley & Small, 2010).
Bereavement services often experience delays in both the developed and developing countries. This is because of the policy makers’ failure to incorporate it among the frameworks of medication (Burke, 2009). The result of this is dependence only on well wishers to deliver the services to the aggrieved family. Death has not been factored in national budgets and their effects fail to be addressed. The interest of the health care on the bereavement services is mild. Although the services are entwined with medication, the healthcare system has foregone their responsibility. This has posed a great challenge in the dissemination of bereavement services to the aggrieved family. Red Cross and other humanitarian bodies have been of a big help to situations of mass disasters. They provide both financial and psychological support to the affected families. However, these services are unavailable in cases where there are individual deaths (Renner, 2011a).
Another challenge faced in the bereavement process is the inability to draw sympathy from the immediate and the entire society. The relationship between the affected individuals and the society is important in the provision of necessary services. Coarse relationship will discourage mercy, as one will be left to tackle his /her issues alone. This state of affairs is traumatizing and can lead to depression and ultimate suicide by the affected individuals. Most of the time a pain half shared eradicates the pain but without a shoulder to cry on, individuals will be affected negatively (Lee, 2010). The individuals will be deprived the courage to cope with the new life challenges as he/she lacks motivation. In addition, the state of the relationship is important in the bereavement process. The background of the deceased and the bereaved ascertains the level of bereavement services. Rough relationship with other individuals will discourage the availability of bereavement services (Rowling, 2008). This largely affects the healing process as individuals have painful feelings toward the other party. Lastly, the nature of death is another issue that poses a great challenge to bereavement. With the unexpected death, there are more feelings attached than an expected death. Expected deaths are those which are caused by unforeseeable events i.e. accidents, while expected deaths are because of diseases and health deterioration (Granados, Winslade & De Witt, 2009).
Conclusion
Grief and loss of human life are on the rise in the 21st century. This is attributable to demographic and technological improvement (Krohn, 2011). In addition, the improved technology has endangered the livelihoods of human beings. The demand of bereavement services is on the rise as many people are experiencing acute losses, both psychological and material. Grief and pain are the inflictions of death that are not easy to handle. The emotional part of grieving is hard for both the elderly and the children to handle (Feen-Calligan, McIntyre, & Sands-Goldstein, 2009). The loss is responsible for the magnitude and complexity of the feelings. The affected children often lack experience of life happenings and are unable to accommodate the shock with ease. There is need therefore to involve experts in the healing process to defuse the trauma caused by the loss. The elderly also need to be accommodated in the process of guidance and counseling to help them bear the shocks and prevent mental distress. In addition, open communication by the immediate family members and support from the community is paramount for families to cope with the disaster. Moreover, a health practitioner is of great importance in the course of defusing the pain. They help ensure that the mental state of these persons is monitored to ensure their stability at all times (Krohn, 2011).
Nurses have been at the forefront in advocating for improved bereavement services in the health sector. They tackle the issues of grief and stress in a prudent manner that has seen families overcome the aftershocks of loss. In addition, their services are pocket friendly. Despite the aforementioned services, nurses need to advance modern methods that address the 21st century issues accordingly. The nursing personnel can realize these goals by agitating improved national programs to be integrated into the healthcare programs. To offer bereavement services successfully, private organizations need additional funding to foster training of the staff (Laurie & Neimeyer, 2010).
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