title: The salience of family worldview in mourning an elderly husband and father.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Arcadia University, Behavioral Research Institute, 450 South Easton Road, Glenside, PA 19038, USA. blackh@arcadia.edu
authors.forename: Helen K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Holly R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Santanello
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001293:Attitude to Death; D003643:Death; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People