ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to understand older widow/widowers’ adaptation and help their adjustment to a new and single life in olde age after experiencing spousal bereavement. The study was designed qualitatively to use phenomenological approach, investigating the phenomena of the life encountered by them and their adjustment process to the bereavement. The participants were 10 older adults who aged between 65 and 86 years old, residing in the Gwangju Metropolitan area or Jeonnam and Chungnam Provinces. The participants, who bereaved their spouses at the age of 60 years or older, were only included in order to focus on exploring the phenomena of adjusting to spousal bereavement in old age. The duration of the bereavement for them ranged between 3 to 10 years. Data collected via in-depth interviews, and the data were analyzed using Colaizzi(1978)’s phenomenological method. As results, there found the main four categories and 16 sub-categories. The 4 categories were ‘sorrow at the loss of a spouse’, ‘the reality of being left alone’, ‘overcoming and adaptation’, and ‘searching for a future self.’ The findings showed that the elderly widow/widowers endeavored to adjust themselves to a new environment by overcoming and coping with the crisis of bereavement, and to find a new life of living single after the spousal loss. It was discussed that most of them needed social supports, and thus a variety of services, programs, or welfare policies should be provided or developed for their effective adjustment to spousal bereavement.