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Factors accompanying the grieving process in the perception of widowed elderly womenSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Martina Černá * ORCID..., Jana Gabrielová ORCID...
College of Polytechnics Jihlava, Department of Social Work, Jihlava, Czech Republic

Aim: The aim is to describe the factors that accompany the grieving process following the loss of a partner, from the perception of widowed elderly women. Theoretical base: Grieving is a taboo topic in the Czech environment. Grieving people are misunderstood by those around them, who often do not know how to behave towards them, what communication strategies to choose, and which aspects of everyday life are burdensome.

Methods: Accompanying factors were described based on an analysis of 15 interviews with widowed elderly women whose partner died as a result of a serious illness. The grieving process in these cases differs in many aspects to that of the grieving process after a sudden death or death as a result of a crime. The thematic analysis was based on the framework of themes identified in a comparative research study, which included everyday activities and routines, emotional experiences, life as a single person within a social context, and health-related issues and symptoms.

Results: The output is a description of the factors that accompany the grieving process.

Conclusion: The outputs can be inspiring for older women who find themselves in this situation, and for their relatives or people who encounter them in the course of their profession - such as social workers or social service workers.

Keywords: Accompanying factors; Grieving; Loss; Widow
Grants and funding:

This research was supported by the College of Polytechnics Jihlava under Grant No. INT/2023/0003 "Coping strategies during difficult life situations in selected target groups of social work".

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Received: June 26, 2025; Revised: October 17, 2025; Accepted: November 18, 2025; Prepublished online: December 18, 2025 

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