The 9th International Nursing Conference 2018 603
“Nurses at The Forefront in Transforming Cre, Science, and research”
Chronic Sorrow At The Elderly Who Has Lost Partner With
Pakurenan Culture (Extended Family) In Indonesia
I Ketut Andika Priastana1, Joni Haryanto1, Suprajitno2
1Faculty of Nursing, Airlangga University, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia
2Stikes Patria Husada, Blitar, East Java, Indonesia
iketutandikapriastana@gmail.com
Keywords: Chronic Sorrow, Elderly, Extended Family.
Abstract: Background: Chronic sorrow is the ongoing disparity resulting from a loss characterized by pervasiveness
and permanence. Symptoms of grief can occur and may recur periodically and potentially become
progressive. One of the causes of chronic sorrow in the elderly is losing a partner. In Indonesia, the elderly
who suffered a loss of partner reached 38.17% of the total elderly population in Indonesia in 2015. As many
as 36.69% of them are lossing of partner due to death. One of the provinces in Indonesia, Bali, has a unique
culture called Pakurenan (extended family) which makes the elderly live with their families. Methods: This
descriptive study was conducted on 255 elderly aged 60 to 82 years who experienced chronic sorrow due
their loss of partner. Chronic sorrow is judged base on the Burke/Eakes Chronic Sorrow Assessment Tool.
Results: The results showed that 49% of elderly had chronic sorrow at pervasive stage, 28.3% at permanent
stage, 18.4% at periodic stage and 4.3% at potentially progressive stage. Conclusion: The image of chronic
sorrow in the elderly can explain that the chronic sorrow is quite high experienced by the elderly who
suffered a loss of partner that need to be handled comprehensively. Elderly with Pakurenan culture
(extended family) shows a result of mild chronic sorrow.
1 BACKGROUND
Chronic sorrow is the ongoing disparity resulting
from a loss characterized by pervasiveness and
permanence. Symptoms of grief can occur and may
recur periodically and potentially become
progressive (Eakes et al. 1998). One of the causes of
chronic sorrow in the elderly is losing a partner. In
Indonesia, the elderly who suffered a loss of partner
reached 38.17% of the total elderly population in
Indonesia in 2015. As many as 36.69% of them were
lossing of partner due to death. There is more
women elderly with widowed status (56.04%) than
the men elderly. This happened due to the higher life
expectancy of women compared to men’s life
expectancy, so that the percentage of women elderly
with widowed status is higher than the men elderly
(Kementerian Kesehatan RI 2016).
One of the provinces in Indonesia, Bali, has a
unique culture related to residency called Pakurenan.
Pakurenan is kuren (kuren in Balinese term known
as family unit) who still have kinship, settling and
living together within one yard (extended family)
(Adnyani 2016). This culture keeps the elderly to
live with their families.
Loss of partner is one of the triggers of
psychological disorders in the form of recurring
sadness. Elderly who experienced a loss of their
partner tend to show increased symptoms of
depression, which may reach a certain degree of
severity (Sikorski et al. 2014; Tseng et al. 2017).
Other studies also support this statement, indicating
that the elderly who experienced a significantly
greater loss of partner also experienced depression
disorders such as symptoms of loneliness, sadness,
mood depression and loss of appetite (Fried et al.
2015). In addition, the loss of a partner has a
tendency to cause impaired cognitive function in the
domain of executive at the elderly. This disorder is
more common among women (Vidarsdottir et al.
2014).
Psychological disorders arising from loss of a
partner also cause functional impairment in the
elderly (Hajek et al. 2017). In addition to
psychological disorders, due to loss of the partner
also indirectly affects the physical of elderly, which
is the occurrence of weight loss. Uncertain events,
