ABSTRACT

Initial research in 2012 described the psychological responses of 32 older adult survivors of critical illness. At the five year follow up in 2017, 15 participants were deceased. Only 2 of these 15 participants achieved their expected life span. Quantitative and qualitative analysis comparing deceased vs. surviving participants yielded significant results. The deceased participants who died 10 to 14 years before their life expectancy were more likely to have experienced severe trauma in childhood, followed by reoccurring illnesses as adults. Deceased participants’ survival was also impacted by their approach to coping with their recovery after illness. Significant correlations were found between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), illness approach, reoccurring illness and death before life expectancy. A key conclusion is that the impact of childhood trauma should be studied across the entire life course. Social workers for older adults must consider the personal complexity of each client’s experience, by exploring unique personal and historical traumas that are not listed on the ACE Scale. Psycho-education can be utilized to teach older adults coping strategies and increase psychological agency.

摘要

2012 年的初步研究描述了 32 名危重病老年幸存者的心理反应。在 2017 年的五年随访中，15 名参与者死亡。这 15 名参与者中只有 2 人达到了预期寿命。比较已故参与者和幸存参与者的定量和定性分析产生了显着的结果。在预期寿命前 10 至 14 年死亡的已故参与者更有可能在童年时期经历过严重的创伤，其次是成年后复发的疾病。已故参与者的生存也受到他们应对病后康复的方法的影响。在预期寿命前的不良童年经历 (ACE)、疾病方法、复发疾病和死亡之间发现了显着的相关性。一个关键的结论是，应该在整个生命过程中研究童年创伤的影响。老年社会工作者必须通过探索未列入 ACE 量表的独特的个人和历史创伤，考虑每个客户经历的个人复杂性。心理教育可用于教授老年人应对策略并增加心理能动性。