“Filling the Void”: Grief and Loneliness in Older Adults

Abstract

Loneliness is often associated with conjugal bereavement, particularly in older adults. Bereavement is also cited as one of the most common causes of loneliness in later life. This article focuses on the findings from research interviews conducted with 16 older adults following partner loss. The argument is made that social forces both external and internal to the mourner determine the duration and shape of the older adult's experience of grief. Loneliness in later life is seen as an embedded and transparent problem that needs to be seen as a separate experience from grief. The findings from this research suggest that grief may be seen as an initiating mechanism of loneliness in older adults. Helping older adults to consider grief and loneliness as separate but related experiences, initiated by loss, may enable them to make sense of the distressing effects of bereavement that take place in later life.