Elderly People's Death and Dying Anxiety: A Comparison between Elderly Living within the Community and in Nursing Homes in Israel

Abstract

Due to our fear of extinction or annihilation, there is a great deal of preoccupation with the subject of death, through which we attempt to learn to feel more at ease with the concept, and allowing us to cope with our fear of death. The study assumptions seek to emphasize the correlations between: a) demographic characteristics and anxiety of death and dying; b) innerpersonality characteristics and death and dying anxiety variable; and c) intrapersonal characteristics and death and dying anxiety. The study sample comprised 217 participants, of which 119 elderly participants lived within the community and 98 lived in nursing homes. The study's data was collected via face-to-face interviews. Findings indicate that elderly people with a high level of self-evaluation and sense of mastery will experience lower levels of death and dying anxiety. It appears that death and dying anxiety is present regardless of the type of residential arrangement. Policy makers in the field of geriatrics ought to focus on finding ways to increase satisfaction with life, a variable shown to be related to reduction of the psychological distress associated with the end of life.