Özet:

The aim of this study is to determine the views of the elderly who have lost a spouse about death. The research is a qualitative study and was conducted with 11 patients whose spouses died, who were hospitalized in a university hospital in a city in the west of our country between November and December 2019. The study data were collected through face-to-face individual interviews with a semi-structured interview form consisting of 8 open-ended questions. A voice recorder was used during the interview with the permission of the participants. The interviews lasted an average of 20-30 minutes. The audio recordings obtained in the research were transferred to the text by the researchers, and a 12-page raw data document was created. Content analysis method was used in the evaluation of the obtained data. As a result of the analysis, 43 codes were reached, similar codes were brought together and gathered under 2 main themes. Theme 1 was determined as feelings and thoughts about the death of the spouse, and theme 2 was determined as the feelings and thoughts about his own death. The ages of the participants vary between 63 and 75, 6 participants are women and 5 participants are men. In addition, four of the participants are illiterate, while two of them are university graduates. More than half of the elderly have lost their spouse 10 years or more ago. At the end of the study, it was determined that the participants felt loneliness and sadness with the death of their spouses, their lives had changed a lot, they considered death as a part of life, they did not experience anxiety about their own death and they wanted to die without needing care. As a result of the study, it has been suggested that this situation should be taken into consideration in the health services provided to the elderly who have experienced the loss of a spouse, and that environments should be created where they can express their feelings and thoughts about death.

Anahtar Kelimeler: