The experience of widowhood: an older person's perspective - 2019

The aim of this research work was to comprehensively describe and analyse the experiences of older people in the context of widowhood, using phenomenology as a methodological trajectory for qualitative research, based on the ideas of philosopher Martin Heidegger as set out in his work Being and Time. The resulting speeches were carefully recorded for analysis in order to understand the nature of the phenomenon. In the first stage of analysis, four semantic units were constructed, followed by fuzzy and median analysis, and finally hermeneutic analysis. The findings indicate that widowed older people recognise that family and service support has helped them to cope with widowhood. The Dasein of these older people reveals a phenomenon of 'it is the void they leave behind' that enables Being, given the pre-existence that comes with coming into the world, and it is here, despite the difficulties, that they learn to cope with a life that goes from inauthenticity to authenticity framed by care, employment, treatment and being with others.