Older Women’s Stories of COVID-19 Loss: Communicated Narrative Sense-Making Through Photography

<p>The diverse array of challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic make it difficult to assess the full impact of this global health crisis. More than 300,000 older Americans died, leaving a nation of grieving survivors in their absence. This profound loss of life will undoubtedly inform the field’s understanding of grief and grieving for many years to come. Pre-pandemic, older women in the United States understood grief to be part of their life stage; COVID-19 amplified the grief experience through both cumulative losses and the isolation particular to the novel coronavirus response. However, few qualitative studies explore older women’s grief, and even fewer capture pandemic grief. The present study illuminated ways in which older women made sense of their losses during the pandemic. Through photography and qualitative interviews, I uncovered the stories behind the mortality statistics. Eleven themes emerged that offer insight into the grieving experience of older women in the United States: social isolation, fear of the virus, efficacy of support, efficacy of the healthcare system (HCS), multiple simultaneous losses/stressors, interpersonal conflict, political divide, delayed grief/rituals, gradual loss, responses to loss(es), and the presence of deceased. Findings offer important recommendations for theory and practice.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year

2023

Author dc:creator

• Walker, Anne

Contributors dc:contributor

• Erin Willer
• Elizabeth Suter
• Mary Claire Morr Loftus
• Roddy MacInnes

• Aging
• COVID-19
• Grief
• Narrative
• Photography
• Women
• Arts and Humanities
• Communication
• Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication
• Graphic Communications
• Mental and Social Health
• Other Communication
• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Women's Studies

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

English (eng)

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2334

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-3318