Heart Broken

WARNING... MATURE SUBJECT MATTER

I heard a comment last week that a bunch of us young folks don’t think about death compared to all of use oldies... and late middle age lady said it of course. The interesting fact of it though was that comment wasn’t entirely true for my self.  The experiences of this past summer as well the entrance into working with elderly people this reality is not far from reach, not for me personally of course but for those around me who are elderly. Every so often my mind churns over the fact that I never hope that I will have to be placed in a nursing home due to cognitive impairment aka losing my mind and memory. I have encountered over the past few days various ladies who have deceased husbands or are functioning more independently now due to the fact that their husband is no longer able to do as he once was. I personally would much rather leave him behind then be left behind as this again, is something that I have thought about since being around these people.

It can and should be noted that the role of a husband is very critical in providing social emotional and physical support for the wife (physical income not so much in the later year) and when this support network is no longer around the person can suffer greatly. This idea was brought up to me as I was sitting in one of my classes which discusses social determinants of health; factors that effect health that are outside of physiological processes. One significant social determinant is the maintenance and support from a social network. A critical piece to this social network can include a spouse. Which presents this idea that an individuals health can be effected by being heart broken and can be seen in physical manifestations.

It’s not uncommon to hear about how one spouse passing shortly after their partner and I would call this literally a heart that is broken. Now I should also note there are many people who do recover and live longer after their spouses passing so this should not be a generalized thing simply a connection made through my various own personal experiences. The elderly population is a group of people that I have to love and have a lot of respect for due to their wisdom and guidance that they have to offer. In the midst of working with them though the challenges that are faced are very different to what I have experienced before.