A Scoping Review of Interventions for Spousal Bereavement in Older Adults

Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2021 Aug 16:S1064-7481(21)00423-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2021.08.002. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe loss of a spouse is a common and natural life event for older adults. Nearly one of four older bereaved spouses experience prolonged grief, impaired function or chronic depression. Mechanisms underlying these and other long-term health risks are not well understood. We conducted a scoping literature review to examine the interventions and outcomes that have been studied for late-life spousal bereavement to date. We identified 22 studies of group and individual-level interventions with most studies concerning grief processes within the first year. Nearly all studies evaluated emotional and psychological symptoms of loss and a small number evaluated the restoration of adaptive functioning. Four interventions addressed the treatment of complicated grief or grief with major depressive disorder. Qualitative studies explored themes of spirituality and mindfulness. There were 17 controlled studies, including 13 randomized controlled trials. Findings were eclectic, with evidence supporting mindfulness techniques in a group format for emotional and life satisfaction outcomes; an individual, function-based therapy addressing sleep to improve emotion and function; an individual, writing-based emotional expression therapy for short-term improvement in emotion and function; nortriptyline for the treatment of bereavement-related major depressive disorder; a group-b...
Source: The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research