喪偶對高齡者健康及生活之衝擊及護理

The Impacts of Widowhood on the Health and Life of Elderly People and R elated Nursing Care

喪偶是老人晚年生活難以避免且影響嚴重的壓力事件，本文經由文獻統整呈現喪偶可能對老人的健康、日常及社會生活層面造成的影響。然而喪偶對老人的影響及調適，可能因性別、與配偶的婚姻關係及世代差異而有所不同。護理人員需結合社福及社區支持系統，發現老年喪偶高風險個案以即早提供照護。評估喪偶事件對老人產生的影響時，應同時考量性別、婚姻關係及世代背景的交錯影響，再依其需求，及早提供適切的身心照護、協助提供正向的親友支持、協助日常生活調整以及依其興趣及資源規劃活動參與，以提升喪偶老人的健康及生活品質。

Widowhood, an unavoidable and stressful situation, has been associated with negative effects in elderly people during later life. This article reviews and summarizes the influences of widowhood on the health, daily life, and social life of elderly people. The influences of widowhood on elderly people may vary by gender, spousal relationship, and cohort background. In order to provide nursing care as early as possible, nurses must cooperate with professionals from social-welfare and / or community-support systems to identify high-risk widowed elderly. When nurses assess the influences of widowhood on elderly people, they should consider the interactions among gender, spousal relationship, and cohort background. Furthermore, nurses may apply various strategies based on the needs of elderly people to improve the health and quality of life of patients. Suggestions include providing appropriate nursing care, offering positive social support, adjusting daily-life routines, and arranging activity programs based on care-recipient interests and resources.