Death anxiety among nursing home residents: A comparison of the young-old and the old-old

Abstract

The purpose of this research was (a) to determine whether there is a comparative difference in the level of conscious death anxiety between young-old and the old-old nursing home residents and (b) to assess the predictive value of educational attainment, gender, subjective health, functional ability, social support, and length of stay on the conscious death anxiety of the persons in the two age groups. A discriminant analysis of 228 residents from three nursing homes revealed that among the 103 young-old subjects poor subjective health, poor functional ability, poor social support, and extended stays in the facilities were indicative of high death anxiety. Among the 125 old-old subjects, high death anxiety was associated with poor subjective health, poor functional ability, and higher educational attainment. Further, it was found that age was an important variable. A significantly greater proportion of the older residents compared to the younger residents had higher conscious death anxiety. The results may direct practitioners and planners in program development for the elderly nursing home patient.

The preliminary effects of laughter therapy on loneliness and death anxiety among older adults living in nursing homes: A nonrandomised pilot study

“…Previous studies show that loneliness is very common among older adults and that it increases the risk of mortality (Steptoe, Shankar, Demakakos, & Wardle, ; Tilvis, Laitala, Routasalo, & Pitkälä, ). Research has determined that older adults who live in city centres (Erol, Sezer, Şişman, & Öztürk, ), are of advanced age (Bilgili et al., ; Dykstra, van Tilburg, & de Jong Gierveld, ; Softa, Öztürk, Dindaş, & Göçmen, ), live alone in their own houses (Kılıç, Karadağ, & Koçak, ), live in institutions (Bilgili et al., ), over longer terms (Mullins & Lopez, ) and have no income (Khorshid et al., ; Mullins & Lopez, ) experience more loneliness. Loneliness was also found to have negative effects on life satisfaction in older adults (Kapıkıran, ).…”

“…Further, death anxiety has a significant impact on the lives of older adults (Öztürk, Karakuş, & Tamam, ). Although anxiety about death has been shown to increase with age (Depaola, Griffin, Young, & Neimeyer, ; Mullins & Lopez, ), some studies found that anxiety about death decreased and remained unchanged after a certain period in older adults (Depaola et al., ; Russac, Gatliff, Reece, & Spottswood, ). Nonetheless, a large proportion of studies have shown that anxiety about death increases with age (Galt & Hayslip, ; Suhail & Akram, ).…”

God as the ultimate attachment figure for older adults

“…Although the literature is somewhat inconsistent in regard to fear of death in older adults, there is reasonable evidence for its existence among older adults (Cicirelli, 2002;Mullins & Lopez, 1982;Neimeyer & Moore, 1994;Viney, 1984). Some theorists (e.g., Carstensen, 1995, Erikson, 1982McCoy, Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Greenberg, 2000;Wong, 2000) argue that as nearness to death increases and existing anxiety-buffering systems deteriorate (implying an emergence of fear of death), then coping strategies are utilized to adapt to the last stage of life and reach an acceptance of death.…”

The correlates of anxiety among older adults in nursing homes and other residential aged care facilities: a systematic review

“…Cheok et al (1996);Drageset et al (2013a);Moreno et al (2008Moreno et al ( -2009Mullins and Lopez (1982);Neville and Teri (2011);Parmelee et al (1993); Smalbrugge et al (2005a); Smalbrugge et al (2005b); Thomasma et al (2013); Drageset et al (2013b); Junginger et al (1993); Moreno et al (2008-2009); Mullins and Lopez (1982); Smalbrugge et al (2005a); Smalbrugge et al (2013); Cheok et al (1996); Drageset et al (2013b); Milliren (1977); Moreno et al (2008-2009); Mullins and Lopez (1982); Neville and Teri (2011); Parmelee et al (1993); Smalbrugge et al (2005a); Smalbrugge et al (2005b) Zuidema et al (2013); Drageset et al (2013b); Junginger et al (1993); Smalbrugge et al (2005a); Smalbrugge et al (2005b) 0 0/5 (0%) Children (yes/no) Smalbrugge et al (2005a); Smalbrugge et al (2005b) 0 0/2 (0%) a…”