title: A world shared - a world apart: the experience of families after the death of a significant other late in life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the death of an older member on families.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The death of a significant other in later life is a dramatic moment. Research has demonstrated that some older persons face negative consequences for their well-being. A majority, however, exhibit resilience in the wake of loss. Nonetheless, the relational process through which older persons come to terms with the loss in interaction with their families is little understood, but vital to support bereaved families.
  
  
  METHODS
  Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology.
  
  
  METHODS
  A purposive sample of ten older persons with their families, represented by children, grandchildren and in-laws (n = 30) were interviewed several times in 2013, alone (n = 16) and in family groups (n = 21), 6-23 months after their significant other's death (mean age 81 years). Data collection and thematic analysis was informed by van Manen's and Benner's analytical strategies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three family themes were discerned. First, through meaning-making, bereaved families weaved the death into their family narrative. Second, through sharing-not sharing their feelings and daily moments, family members lived with the loss both together and alone. Third, some families faced upheaval in their family life, which required them to re-create their everyday life, whereas other families continued with little change.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings demonstrate that families hold an inherent capacity to make meaning of the death and enact family thereafter. Family relations arose as interplay of different, contradicting forces. Nurses should facilitate families' meaning-making of the death, attend to their converging and diverging sense of loss and strengthen family caring.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical Nursing Science, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Rahel
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5872-076X
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naef
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling, UK.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nursing, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Romy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahrer-Imhof
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Gunn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grande
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001601:Bereavement; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland
keywords: bereavement; family care; family relations; hermeneutics; older person; phenomenology