LOSSES IN AGING: PERCEPTIONS OF OLDER ADULTS AND NURSES (DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, GRIEF).
Contributors: Northern Illinois University.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 189
Subjects: Education, Adult and Continuing.; Gerontology.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which older adults and their nurse caregivers agree on the rankings of 25 common losses in later life. Specifically, three areas were explored: (a) the degree of agreement in seriousness of rankings given the 25 losses as perceived by older adults as a group and nurses as a group; (b) the relationship between older adults and nurses regarding the 25 losses; and (c) variables associated with perception of seriousness of losses including: age, gender, and self-rated health.

The descriptive study was conducted in three county health departments in northern Illinois. The sample consisted of 145 older adults and 70 community health nurses.

The instrument used was Perceptions of Loss in Later Life, composed of the following three sections: (a) a demographic cover sheet, (b) a list of 25 losses asking older adults if they had experienced them, (c) a large gameboard in the shape of a diamond with 25 empty rectangles on which the subjects placed the 25 cards printed with the 25 loss events, building the diamond from least to most serious. The instrument was a modified version of that published by Crane in 1983. Instrument validity was based on literature and expert opinion. Reliability was ased on test-retest. A pilot process was used.

Five null hypotheses were tested, with an alpha level of .05 set for rejection. Nonparametric tests of differences between groups and tests of association for agreement of rankings were employed for statistical analysis. All null hypotheses were rejected in whole or in part.

Both older adults and nurses showed agreement in the seriousness of ranks each group gave the 25 losses. Of the demographic variables, neither age nor self-rated health were associated with the seriousness given the ranks by older adults. However, both gender and loss experience influenced the way some losses were ranked. Although nurses and older adults ranked losses similarly overall, 14 of 25 losses were ranked significantly differently by the two groups. Implications of the study for nursing and adult education were developed.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-12, Section: A, page: 3567.

Thesis (ED.D.)--NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, 1985.

School code: 0162.