Staying Healthy and Independent

Living arrangements are often crucial to the surviving spouse's ability to remain healthy and independent. Seniors now account for more than a third of all Canadians living alone, and more than 70% of them are widows. Women age 65 and over are more than twice as likely as men to live alone.

Researchers do not agree on whether widowed individuals are more likely to become ill or die; findings have been contradictory. Since most widow(er)s are older and live alone, it is difficult to isolate these factors from the effects of being a widow, especially because good health is a product of many factors, including socio-economic status, personality, and health behaviours, beliefs and attitudes.

We do know that health is jeopardized if living alone leads to social isolation, loneliness, and depression. Health may deteriorate, with depression, insomnia, irritability and weight loss becoming problems in the first few years after a spouse's death, particularly if vitality had already been undermined by months or years of caring for a terminally ill spouse. Other threats to mental and physical health include inadequate nutrition, increased use of alcohol or drugs, and deteriorating sanitary or safety conditions in the home.⁹

9 McPherson, p. 218.