Institutionalization common after the death of a spouse

Institutionalization common after the death of a spouseJune 1st, 2008
Dr. Avnish Jolly ,1 June :According to Elina Nihtila, Researcher, Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki reported that elderly people are more likely to be institutionalized following the death of a spouse. "We found that the risk of entering long-term institutional care was higher among older adults who had lost their spouse than among those living with their spouse." Moreover, the excess risk of institutionalization was highest during the first month after the spouse’s death, Nihtila said. "The risk was more than three times among both men and women, and decreased with time from bereavement, stabilizing at approximately 20 percent to 50 percent higher over one to five years," she said.