Unprepared for the depth of my feelings' - capturing grief in older people through research poetry
- Gerber, Katrin, Brijnath, Bianca, Lock, Kayla, Bryant, Christina, Hills, Danny, Hjorth, Larissa
- Authors: Gerber, Katrin , Brijnath, Bianca , Lock, Kayla , Bryant, Christina , Hills, Danny , Hjorth, Larissa
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Age and Ageing Vol. 51, no. 3 (2022), p.
- Full Text:
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- Description: Background: Older people are more likely to experience bereavements than any other age group. However, in healthcare and society, their grief experiences and support needs receive limited attention. Through innovative, arts-based research poetry, this study aimed to capture older people's bereavement stories and the effects of grief on their physical and mental health. Method: Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 18 bereaved older adults were analysed using thematic and poetic narrative analysis, following a five-step approach of immersion, creation, critical reflection, ethics and engagement. Results: Research poems were used to illustrate three themes of bereavement experiences among older adults: feeling unprepared, accumulation of losses and ripple effects of grief. While half of participants reported that the death of their family member was expected, many felt unprepared despite having experienced multiple bereavements throughout their life. Instead, the accumulation of losses had a compounding effect on their health and well-being. While these ripple effects of grief focussed on emotional and mental health consequences, many also reported physical health effects like the onset of a new condition or the worsening of an existing one. In its most extreme form, grief was connected with a perceived increased mortality risk. Conclusions: By using poetry to draw attention to the intense and often long-lasting effects of grief on older people's health and well-being, this article offers emotional, engaging and immersive insights into their unique bereavement experiences and thereby challenges the notion that grief has an expiry date. © 2022 The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
- Authors: Gerber, Katrin , Brijnath, Bianca , Lock, Kayla , Bryant, Christina , Hills, Danny , Hjorth, Larissa
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Age and Ageing Vol. 51, no. 3 (2022), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Older people are more likely to experience bereavements than any other age group. However, in healthcare and society, their grief experiences and support needs receive limited attention. Through innovative, arts-based research poetry, this study aimed to capture older people's bereavement stories and the effects of grief on their physical and mental health. Method: Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 18 bereaved older adults were analysed using thematic and poetic narrative analysis, following a five-step approach of immersion, creation, critical reflection, ethics and engagement. Results: Research poems were used to illustrate three themes of bereavement experiences among older adults: feeling unprepared, accumulation of losses and ripple effects of grief. While half of participants reported that the death of their family member was expected, many felt unprepared despite having experienced multiple bereavements throughout their life. Instead, the accumulation of losses had a compounding effect on their health and well-being. While these ripple effects of grief focussed on emotional and mental health consequences, many also reported physical health effects like the onset of a new condition or the worsening of an existing one. In its most extreme form, grief was connected with a perceived increased mortality risk. Conclusions: By using poetry to draw attention to the intense and often long-lasting effects of grief on older people's health and well-being, this article offers emotional, engaging and immersive insights into their unique bereavement experiences and thereby challenges the notion that grief has an expiry date. © 2022 The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Incontinence during and following hospitalisation : a prospective study of prevalence, incidence and association with clinical outcomes
- Campbell, Jill, Hubbard, Ruth, Ostaszkiewicz, Joan, Green, Theresa, Coyer, Fiona, Mudge, Alison
- Authors: Campbell, Jill , Hubbard, Ruth , Ostaszkiewicz, Joan , Green, Theresa , Coyer, Fiona , Mudge, Alison
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Age and Ageing Vol. 52, no. 9 (2023), p.
- Full Text:
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- Description: Background: Incontinence is common in hospitalised older adults but few studies report new incidence during or following hospitalisation. Objective: To describe prevalence and incidence of incontinence in older inpatients and associations with clinical outcomes. Design: Secondary analysis of prospectively collected data from consecutive consenting inpatients age 65 years and older on medical and surgical wards in four Australian public hospitals. Methods: Participants self-reported urinary and faecal incontinence 2 weeks prior to admission, at hospital discharge and 30 days after discharge as part of comprehensive assessment by a trained research assistant. Outcomes were length of stay, facility discharge, 30-day readmission and 6-month mortality. Results: Analysis included 970 participants (mean age 76.7 years, 48.9% female). Urinary and/or faecal incontinence was self-reported in 310/970 (32.0%, [95% confidence interval (CI) 29.0-35.0]) participants 2 weeks before admission, 201/834 (24.1% [95% CI 21.2-27.2]) at discharge and 193/776 (24.9% [95% CI 21.9-28.1]) 30 days after discharge. Continence patterns were dynamic within the peri-hospital period. Of participants without pre-hospital incontinence, 74/567 (13.1% [95% CI 10.4-16.1) reported incontinence at discharge and 85/537 (15.8% [95% CI 12.8-19.2]) reported incontinence at 30 days follow-up. Median hospital stay was longer in participants with pre-hospital incontinence (7 vs. 6 days, P = 0.02) even in adjusted analyses and pre-hospital incontinence was significantly associated with mortality in unadjusted but not adjusted analyses. Conclusion: Pre-hospital, hospital-acquired and new post-hospital incontinence are common in older inpatients. Better understanding of incontinence patterns may help target interventions to reduce this complication. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved.
- Authors: Campbell, Jill , Hubbard, Ruth , Ostaszkiewicz, Joan , Green, Theresa , Coyer, Fiona , Mudge, Alison
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Age and Ageing Vol. 52, no. 9 (2023), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Incontinence is common in hospitalised older adults but few studies report new incidence during or following hospitalisation. Objective: To describe prevalence and incidence of incontinence in older inpatients and associations with clinical outcomes. Design: Secondary analysis of prospectively collected data from consecutive consenting inpatients age 65 years and older on medical and surgical wards in four Australian public hospitals. Methods: Participants self-reported urinary and faecal incontinence 2 weeks prior to admission, at hospital discharge and 30 days after discharge as part of comprehensive assessment by a trained research assistant. Outcomes were length of stay, facility discharge, 30-day readmission and 6-month mortality. Results: Analysis included 970 participants (mean age 76.7 years, 48.9% female). Urinary and/or faecal incontinence was self-reported in 310/970 (32.0%, [95% confidence interval (CI) 29.0-35.0]) participants 2 weeks before admission, 201/834 (24.1% [95% CI 21.2-27.2]) at discharge and 193/776 (24.9% [95% CI 21.9-28.1]) 30 days after discharge. Continence patterns were dynamic within the peri-hospital period. Of participants without pre-hospital incontinence, 74/567 (13.1% [95% CI 10.4-16.1) reported incontinence at discharge and 85/537 (15.8% [95% CI 12.8-19.2]) reported incontinence at 30 days follow-up. Median hospital stay was longer in participants with pre-hospital incontinence (7 vs. 6 days, P = 0.02) even in adjusted analyses and pre-hospital incontinence was significantly associated with mortality in unadjusted but not adjusted analyses. Conclusion: Pre-hospital, hospital-acquired and new post-hospital incontinence are common in older inpatients. Better understanding of incontinence patterns may help target interventions to reduce this complication. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved.
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