Grief Paper Sample for Students

Grief

Currently, the field of death studies has become popular on matters death, termination of care and pain globally. Since 19th century to date, numerous studies have been conducted contributing significant scope and literature in the field of death studies (Rainer, 2013). Many researchers have failed to give a justification to research on morbid. In fact, most authors in death-related studies give personal experiences in a confessional style. Researching on grief makes it easy to comprehend the grieving process, theories of loss and coping mechanism.

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Research Interests

I am interested in the field because it offers challenging experiences to apply reflexive practices such as considering emotional safety procedures, personal care management, participating in regular debriefs, time management in scheduling interviews and maintaining a diary. It is easy to uphold element of anonymity and confidentiality, however, keeping research transparency and personal emotions in the analysis of results. Grief as a sensitive topic, it is life-threatening and can lead to suicide if the bereaved do not accept to move on with the healthy life. Aim interested in researching about grief because, at some point in life, everyone loses their loved ones. I am committed to studying more about the human experience of grief to support the efforts of foundations that take care of bereaved individuals. By adding scope and literature to death studies, it is easy to design efficient care system to meet the needs of the bereaved ones.

Significance of the Study

The importance of the study will involve the review of the current literature to develop critical bereavement framework that creates meaningful reconstructions about loss. The research is also essential in enlightening the society on how to cope with grief as a social, psychological and physiological and behavioral domain. Furthermore, the study will add value to the meaning and objective of living among the bereaved population to enhance the capacity to face and withstand the terrible experiences of grief. The study will also help the society to develop a culture of care for the bereaved by discussing the discussing emotions of grief and how to overcome the situation. The study will contribute to the grief literature on matters of loss of meaning, communication, and personal resolution. The study will enable the society members to share their grief freely, seek support from the relevant authorities and organizations, rebuilt and maintain a good relationship as well as take care of each other in good and bad times (Walter, 2003). The community also develops the spirit of concern for others and make plans to avoid the impact of grief.

Research Design

The study will follow a qualitative research outline to describe the experiences of the participants regarding grief in their life cycle as a necessary counter experience using focus groups and interviews. Describing the qualitative variance between healthy grieving, traumatic grieving, and normal grieving determines the degree of impairment caused by grief.

Sources of the Research Problem

Statistics on prolonged post grief disorder

Theories of coping with loss

Past literature and research reviews

Personal experiences on grief

Focus on related studies

Information from grief foundation.

Research Hypothesis

There is a relationship between grief and high cases of suicide.

There is a link between hope, personal resolution and social support in overcoming grief.

There is a difference between coping strategies relative to race and ethnicity. For example, difference in grief among African America, Hispanics, and Caucasian.

The degree of grief is determined by the nature of the relationship to the deceased such as spouse/partner, parent/child and leader/follower.

Grief has the potential to devastate, hurt and disrupt the way of life but it is also a source of psychological strength to overcome it.

Research Method

Newson, R., Boelen, P., Hek, K., Hofman, A., & Tiemeier, H. (2011). The prevalence and characteristics of complicated grief in older adults. Journal of Affective Disorders, 132(1-2), 231-238. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2011.02.021

In this article, Newson, Boelen, Hek, Hofman, and Tiemeier (2011) assess the prevalence and characteristics of complicated grief among the elderly in a population cohort, while seeking to understand the overlap in mental disorders such as anxiety and depression. In doing so, the authors identified common characteristics that are related to bereavement and socio-demographics. The authors carried the research from the fact that grief in older adults is complicated and it impairs their physical and mental health. The researchers utilized mixed research methods as they evaluated 5741 adults living Rotterdam who were asked questions followed by data analysis through numerical comparison of the data collected from the field with statistical inferences. The dependent variable in this study was the commonness and characteristics of complicated grief while the independent variable was the grief in older adults. To achieve the desired results, the researchers worked with a sample of 5741 older adults over 55 years of age, living in Rotterdam and who had been bereaved and currently suffering from grief (Newson, Boelen, Hek, Hofman & Tiemeier, 2011). However, out of the total number, only 3011 participated in the study. The study identified that the commonness of complicated grief among the elderly in the general population was evident. The two standard factors noted in the study population was the fact that most of them were diagnosed with depression or anxiety, or both mental conditions. The authors suggested that there is a need to establish how to prevent, diagnose, and treat grief in older adults to avoid complications (Newson, Boelen, Hek, Hofman & Tiemeier, 2011). The identified limitations in the study included the screening questions might have over- or underestimated the number of grievers, and the evaluation of the socio-demographic aspects concerning complicated grief might not have been entirely correct.

Costello, J., & Kendrick, K. (2000). Grief and older people: the making or breaking of emotional bonds following partner loss in later life. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32(6), 1374-1382. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2000.01625.x

The goal of this research study was to assess how the elderly handle grief, especially the ones that had recently lost their partners in the hospital after a period of terminal illness. The rationale behind this research was to understand the grief experiences as this knowledge would help in developing bereavement support for the elderly both in the medical institutions and community settings. The type of research design used in this study as the researchers used interviews to get information that would influence the desired solution. Ethnographic interviewing was used as a primary method of collecting data as this is useful when handling sensitive topics. The independent variable in this study was the bereaved elderly in the study while the dependent variable was how the elderly dealt with the grief experience. The sample consisted of 12 people over the age of 74 years and who were recently bereaved within the last one year (Costello & Kendrick, 2000). The time considered from diagnosis to the point of death was between 10 days to 60 days, with 25 days regarded as the average time. The findings from this study highlighted that conjugal bereavement among the elderly received little attention and this was a challenge to the older people. The finding also indicated that the primary themes identified in this period included feeling isolated, and loneliness and depression (Costello & Kendrick, 2000). The critical limitation encountered in this research was the small sample size as this prevented making a substantive conclusion to support the validity of the research. The other barrier that the authors faced was that one of the colleagues played the role of a therapist as well and this might have blurred his role in the study as he might influence some of the responses.

Ott, C., Lueger, R., Kelber, S., & Prigerson, H. (2007). Spousal Bereavement in Older Adults: Common, Resilient, and Chronic Grief With Defining Characteristics. The Journal Of Nervous And Mental Disease, 195(4), 332-341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.nmd.0000243890.93992.1e

This study aimed to identify the common patterns of grief among the elderly who have lost their spouses as a way of developing an approach that can help the victims deal with the chronic problem that deteriorates their health. According to the authors, people handle grief differently, and it is essential to understand the prevalent patterns before creating a system to help them manage the loss (Ott, Lueger, Kelber & Prigerson, 2007). The researchers use mixed research design. The researchers used questionnaires, alongside interviews while at the same time they used quantitative research in quantifying the study problem to generate data that they later transformed into relevant statistics that uncover the patterns of grief. The independent variable in this study was the grief in the older adults while the independent variables included the defining characteristics of the grief among the selected adults. The sample study was extracted from the Yale Bereavement Study, and it is 317 individuals that took part in the study. The participants were at least 60 years old (Ott, Lueger, Kelber & Prigerson, 2007). The findings revealed that about 5 out of 6 elderlies adjusted well with the loss of their spouse and one out if six suffered significantly from the grief. Additionally, they noted that people who suffered from chronic grief exhibited signs of depression, early and sudden death, low self-esteem, and high marital dependency. The limitation identified by the researchers was that the data collected would have been more accurate if they had data collected before grief as these variables would help in accounting for the different patterns of grief.

Supiano, K., & Luptak, M. (2013). Complicated Grief in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Complicated Grief Group Therapy. The Gerontologist, 54(5), 840-856. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnt076

Supiano and Luptak (2013) conducted a study to understand the efficacy of the complicated grief therapy. The study was started on the basis that grief is a common aspect among the elderly, and there are no efficient therapy models that can help the elderly in dealing with the experience. The study used mixed methods in collecting data. The researchers first used interviews in assessing the participants on how they responded to the various techniques of grief management. The researchers later quantified the problem to develop usable statistics that would formulate facts. The independent variable in the investigation was the group types while the dependent was the treatment response. The sample consisted of 55 people, aged 60 years and above with a report of a dead spouse for more than six months. However, it was only 39 people who managed to take part in the study. Supiano and Luptak (2013) identified that the elderly who received cognitive group therapy significantly responded to treatment than the persons who do not seek medical help. Therefore, it is significant that these people receive cognitive therapy as a way of managing complicated grief. The limitation of the study was the sample size as this would not offer a clear picture of the general population.

References

Costello, J., & Kendrick, K. (2000). Grief and older people: the making or breaking of emotional bonds following partner loss in later life. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 32(6), 1374-1382. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2000.01625.x