The Effects Of Bereavement And Loss On Older People

The Joe family was introduced to counseling prior to the death of Mama Joe whose death resulted in conflict within the family. Prior to the death of Mama Joe, there were a rise in emotional stressors in the family such as financial stability, Family conflict, and coping skills. The initial problem presented in this family is the death of Mama Joe and individual conflicts within the family. Many of the problems seen in this family can be traced back to the death of Mama Joe, without her acting as the families functioning unit, there is a shift in the Joe family dynamic. Terri expresses financial strain from maintaining the family’s bills, there is also a noticeable conflict between Maxine and Terri, as well as infidelity between Cousin faith and Terri’s husband. After doing an initial assessment the best treatment in this family is first helping the family cope with the death of Big Mama. The impact of death within the family system is something that is not discussed, and inadequate attention has been given on the long-term effects of death within the surviving members. Froma Walsh assists professionals in understanding the complex issues that arises when families are faced with death in her book Living beyond Loss: Death in the family. Walsh breaks down family adaption into 4 major tasks which she uses to help strengthen the functioning unit. One task that can help the joe family is what Walsh describes as Shared acknowledgement of the reality of death This task states that, “Every family member must confront the reality of a death in the family. Acknowledgment of the loss is facilitated by clear information and open communication about the facts and circumstances of the death. Inability to accept the reality of death can lead family members to avoid contact with the rest of the family or to become angry with others who are moving forward in the grief process. Long-standing sibling conflicts and cutoffs can Often be traced back to the bedside of a dying parent or to the graveside.”{pg. 28} This accurately depicts the Joe family whose family dynamic shifted after the death of Mama Joe. Because of this shift the family lacked the ability to cope, which lead to isolation amongst family members, sibling

A second loss which is not associated with grief could be loss of an individual’s independence. I am familiar with a case where a boy who had been living freely at home was then moved into residential care. The impact of this loss on the said individual was feelings of confusion, anger and fear. He developed behavioural issues and problems sleeping due to the stress of the change. He felt trapped and unable to make basic

The importance of continuing the bond between the bereaved individual and the deceased is another prominent aspect of current grief theories (Corr & Coolican, 2010). Past theories emphasized letting go of the bereaved individual; however, current theories suggest continuing the bond allows bereaved individuals to learn how to live with the loss of their loved one. Klass et al. (1996) stressed the importance of continuing bonds for parents who have lost a child and allowing parents to continue their relationship with their child past his/her death. This allows the parents to reconstruct their identity and integrate the loss into their lives without severing the relationship they held so close to their heart (Klass, 1996).

According to Pond (2012), the grief process in young people is dependent on both emotional and cognitive developmental levels of each child, as well as the environmental changes that might occur due to this loss. Pond (2013) explains that Freud was among the first to acknowledge the need for processing grief, which he saw as the path to regaining emotional equilibrium being possible only through disconnecting emotionally from the dead loved one. Upon further research, Bowlby changed this line of thinking; and with children, attachment with the dead loved one was adapted to change the type of relationship the child experiences with a consideration of the past, present, and future being different due to the death. Based on these findings, treatment protocols have been developed to assist children who are experiencing trouble processing grief.

Ineffective family coping. Bud 's wife is going to face a situational crisis. Not only is she faced with her loved one passing before her eyes, but she is also faced with taking care of Bud. Our main focus for Bud 's wife will be monitoring and giving her the resources she needs to progress through this difficult time. Bud 's family will soon go through bereavement, a process Kristjanson et al. (2005) describes as the "entire experience of family members and friends in anticipation, death and subsequent adjustment to living following the death of a loved one" (P. 611). Each member of Bud 's family will go through the grieving process in their own individual way. When communicating with Buds wife at visits and on the phone we will use active listening and empathy. As a health care team we will be constantly be monitoring to see how that specific family member is dealing with the process.Kristjanson et al. (2005) explains how a family can experience chronic stress from providing care and then losing a loved one (p. 612). Because of the multitude of the situation bereavement and grief will be addressed by the whole health care team at Pathways hospice. Each member has a part to play when assisting families in this sensitive time. The BRI index that is used to assess the risk of maladaptive coping by family members is used throughout the dying process. Kristjanson et all. (2005) research supports the use of the BRI for many reasons. The first being it is a proactive approach

The Two-Track Model of Bereavement is a model that states loss is conceptualized along two axes. Track I pertains to the biopsychosocial functioning in the event of a loss and Track II pertains to the bereaved’s continued emotional attachment and relationship to whoever is deceased. The effect of Track I is seen through the bereaved’s functioning, including their anxiety, their self-esteem and self-worth, and their depressive affect and cognitions. Noting the ability of one to invest in life tasks after experiencing a loss indicates how they are responding to the loss of the deceased. This Track is seen as an expression similar to one of trauma, or crisis. Track II holds that the bereaved has difficulty physically separating from the deceased. This can be seen in emotional, interpersonal, or cognitive ways. It is shown through imagery and memories that the bereaved experiences surrounding the deceased, whether positive or negative, as well as the emotional distance from them. These pictures in the bereaved’s head explain both the cognitive and emotional view of the person who has died (Rubin, 1999).

The first theory I will be discussing is the Continuing Bond Theory we covered in lecture. Continuing Bond Theory is about continuing a relationship with a loved one was has died, which helps enhance an individual’s life by continuing this bond (Class notes, 2017). When reading the group lossography I found many classmates who currently practice this theory. For example, a classmate describes the death of their grandmother who played a big role in their life. In their lossogrpahy, the classmate talks about the strong bond and close relationship with their grandmother. After the death of their grandmother, their family has created rituals by having created shirts in their grandmother’s memory, pillows made out of her shirts, and the family gathering together every year for the anniversary of her death (pg. 105). These rituals help keep and play a key role in the classmate’s relationship with their deceased grandmother. The grief theory applies to this example because this classmate engages in rituals every year to keep her grandmother in her memory and to help preserve the close bond they once had.

The overall aim of this piece of work, is to describe and evaluate attachment theory and its value, it can have in the social work profession .One way I will do this is by finding a socially accepted definition of attachment theory and the academic 's who have defined the process and its effect within social work. Firstly we need to know what exactly what attachment theory actually is. I belief this can be described as being a set of theories derived from academic 's who feel attachment has a psychological normality for searching an individuals closeness to another person in there life, and there effect to promote security when that person is with them and the anxiety when they have gone. There are many theorist 's in the field of attachment and it is my intention to focus on three such Theorist’s, John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth to whom both have worked closely in this area and are recognised in some forums and being the “guru 's in the field of attachment, and David Howe, Professor of Social Work at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Having a knowledge base of these theories as a social worker will enable and empower us when making decisions and the way in which we present ourselves,” Looking at both sides of the coin” and when and when not to intervene when assessing the need of the child and adult.

Almost everyone in the world experiences an event which can be considered as a loss. It is the disappearance of something or someone important to an individual, grief is the natural response to the loss, people feel a range of emotions when they suffer a loss such as shock, panic, denial, anger and guilt. Death is one of the major events associated with loss but there are many others that occur which can also have a negative effect on someone’s life by impacting in various ways.

Hardships that might prompt distress to incorporate the death or departure of a friend or family member, loss of a vocation, demise or loss of a cherished pet, or any number of different changes in life. Anybody can encounter melancholy and misfortune. However, every individual is extraordinary by the way he or she acclimatizes to these attitudes. In dealing with grief counseling, it can be described and understood as a form of therapy that explicitly focuses on the goal of helping individuals grieve and address their personal loss in a manner that is not only healthy for them but the people around them. To work through difficult feelings, thoughts, and memories that have to do with an associated pain of an individual is the goal of a grief counselor. Many of these strains and types of loss can include goals, ideals, and relationships. There is a process of grieving that many individuals do not understand, this can lead to many problems for that individual because the process is something normal to go through to cope with the given issue. Some of the symptoms that a person may go through are emotional numbness, disruptive sleep, short temperateness, lack of eating, and depression just to name a

Grief is the act following the loss of a loved one. While grief and bereavement are normal occurrences, the grief process is a social construct of how someone should behave. The acceptable ways that people grieve change because of this construct. For a time it was not acceptable to grieve; today, however, it is seen as a necessary way to move on from death (Scheid, 2011).The grief process has been described as a multistage event, with each stage lasting for a suggested amount of time to be considered “normal” and reach resolution. The beginning stage of grief is the immediate shock, disbelief, and denial lasting from hours to weeks (Wambach, 1985). The middle stage is the acute mourning phase that can include somatic and emotional turmoil. This stage includes acknowledging the event and processing it on various levels, both mentally and physically. The final stage is a period of

Analyse theories of loss and grief in respect of their relevance for social work practice Both grief and loss are an inevitable part of human existence and are at the heart of life and growth (Walter and McCoyd, 2009). Some losses are painful and consequently trigger grief, however some losses are natural and a part of development, such as maturation, and usually seen as progression but can also present as a loss. An element of social work is to assist service users in their growth, for example from childhood into adolescence, and offer support through difficult losses. Loss can occur within a wide spectrum of experiences; such as death and bereavement; loss of identity - for example losing something defining, for instance faith or religion;

Poe is suggesting that the impact of losing a loved one can be something that you will never forgot. For example in his poem “Annabel lee” he says “ for the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams of the beautiful annabel lee”. This quote can show how he states you can never forgot a loved one because he is reminded of her by just the moonlight alone showing that other things remind him of her telling us that he will never forgot about her. This can also be an example for the general audience of this poem because it can tell the audience how hard it is to forgot about a loved one because you are reminded of them daily by the smallest things. Another example of Edgar Allen Poe showing us that you can never forget a loved one is this quote

Loss is a phenomenon that is experienced by all. Death is experienced by family members as a unique and elevated form of loss which is modulated by potent stages of grief. Inevitably, everyone will lose someone with whom they had a personal relationship and emotional connection and thus experience an aftermath that can generally be described as grief. Although bereavement, which is defined as a state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one, is a universal experience it varies widely across gender, age, and circumstance (definitions.net, 2015). Indeed the formalities and phases associated with bereavement have been recounted and theorized in literature for years. These philosophies are quite diverse but

The process model of coping with bereavement identified two types of stressors related to bereavement: “loss-oriented stressors and restoration-oriented stressors. Loss-oriented stressors are essentially those that relate directly to the death and the feelings associated with it. These types of stressors include ruminating on the emotions associated with the deceased, concentrating on how life had been prior to the loss, and focusing on the actual circumstances surrounding the death. Restoration-oriented