Abstract
Objective
This study investigated the mourning process of older people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) who are bereaved of their spouse and living at home or at a long-term care facility (facility), and considered the effects of environmental factors and marital relationships on the mourning aspect.
Methods
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a professional for those working in a facility, which the older person with AD live and in pairs with a family member of the older person with AD and a professional at home setting. We performed qualitative content analysis.
Results
The subjects were three professionals and three family members at home setting, and three professionals at facility. The results showed that more mourning was observed at home setting than at the facility. This was possibly due to the environment, such as things and places that remind older people with AD of their spouse at home, as well as potential interaction with staff to prevent reminiscing about one’s spouse. The themes of [regret and dream] and [comfort by the involvement of others] were obtained from the case of good marital relationship. On the other hand, the themes of [loud and pica when uncomfortable] and [memorial] were obtained from the cases of bad marital relationship. It was suggested that it is important to create spiritual care based on the Japanese culture such as using Buddhist altars and visiting graves, and care that allows the person to relax and heal, in the mourning process of the older people with AD.
