The Salience of Family Worldview in Mourning an Elderly Husband and Father

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore family reaction to the death of the elderly husband and father in the family. METHODS: We qualitatively interviewed 34 families (a family included a widow and 2 adult biological children) approximately 6-15 months after the death. In private, one-on-one in-depth interviews, we discussed how the death affected each family member as an individual and how each member perceived that the death altered the family as a unit. RESULTS: An individual's worldview, embedded in the smaller culture of the family and the larger culture of society, offers a template for appropriate grief reactions. DISCUSSION: Our article builds on the constructs of worldview, grief for the husband and father, and narrative at the juncture of self-evaluation, as family members reflected on where they stood in their own journey through life.