Maintaining identity in elderly couples with chronic illness.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Psychology
• Nursing

Background:

• Chronic illness onset necessitates identity re-evaluation and role adjustments in couples.
• Older adults typically re-evaluate life roles and seek to integrate experiences for a sense of life worth.
• Elderly couples facing chronic illness must adapt to illness consequences for healthy identity formation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the impact of chronic illness on the identities of elderly couples.
• To examine the role of nurse practitioners in guiding couples through identity adaptation.
• To understand how couples maintain healthy individual and merged identities amidst chronic illness.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of two couples' experiences with chronic illness.
• Exploration of identity re-evaluation and role adjustments within the couple dynamic.
• Observation of nurse practitioner interventions and client responses.

Main Results:

• Couples needed to redefine separate and merged identities due to chronic illness.
• Successful adaptation involved temporary merging for mutual support, followed by separation into distinct individual states.
• Nurse practitioners facilitated healthy identity states by reinforcing adaptation strategies.

Conclusions:

• Elderly couples experiencing chronic illness require support in redefining identities.
• Nurse practitioners play a crucial role in guiding couples to maintain healthy individual and merged identities.
• Adapting to chronic illness involves a dynamic process of merging and separating identity states.