Lesson 1: Social Determinants

Canada, like its peers, has a greying population. In 2030, an estimated 23 percent of the Canadian population will be over age 65, double the share in 1990.

12 percent of seniors live in poverty, amounting to almost 600,000 people. Seniors living alone are particularly hard pressed financially, with more than 1 in 4 single seniors, most of whom are women, living in poverty.

2SLGBTQ+ seniors might not feel safe in their own homes or with healthcare providers—they might feel so afraid that they would return to the closet in their final years coupled with social estrangement and isolation.

Racialized seniors may experience lack of safety for their cultural bereavement. Cultural bereavement is a term utilized to describe the grieving experience of the uprooted person or group resulting from loss of social structures, cultural values and cultural identities (Bhugra & Becker, 2005). This leads people to constantly feel that they must reorganize their own self image, which can impact their sense of self esteem.

Traditional gender norms/roles may also be a factor in how people adapt following loss and also whether they search out or accept support in their grief. Remember the Styles of Grief research by Martin and Doka – instrumental vs intuitive don’t always play out along gender lines. But older adults may been mis-categorized or not given permission to grieve in a way that is there predominant, natural style.

Changes in a grieving senior’s role can be challenging: paying bills for the first time, making financial decisions, cooking, cleaning buying clothes, groceries, etc. While younger generations are more used to having less rigid gender identification with traditional roles, older people may tend to see them more traditionally.

Cultures also may have expectations of what a person is supposed to be able to do, the roles they are to play – and that may change when a loved one dies