WLS Codebooks

Note: Codebooks contain frequency data from the private data release. For some variables, these differ from the frequencies in the public release. Variables that differ between the public and private versions include "(not available on public release)" as part of the variable description, or a note indicating the difference between the public and private versions.

In Person: End of Life Death Reactions

JEOLDTH  End of Life Death Reactions Module

OVERVIEW

The End of Life Death Reactions Module focuses on the participant's experiences
of spousal and parental death. It was first introduced as part of the 2004
telephone interview and has been almost exactly replicated for the 2010
collection wave. Data were collected in the following manner: 

     If the participant has experienced a spousal death since they were last 
     interviewed - whether that was during the 1993 or 2004 collection wave 
     - they will be asked a series of questions about the context of their 
     spouse's death, including how much pain he/she was in during the last 
     week of life, how prominently a Durable Power of Attorney for Health 
     Care appointment or signed living will factored into his/her last week
     of life, and the extent to which his/her stated wishes for end of life 
     care were followed. These are followed up with questions about if and 
     how the death of the participant's spouse changed their health insurance 
     coverage or financial situation (through a life insurance settlement, 
     alteration in the compensation paid out by a pension or annuity, and so 
     forth). Participants who have experienced multiple spousal deaths since 
     last being interviewed will be asked to focus on the spouse who died 
     most recently. If the participant has not experienced a spousal death 
     since they were last interviewed, but reports a previously unrecorded 
     spousal death that occurred within the 10 years prior to their 2010 
     interview date, the same sequence of questions will be administered. In
     these situations, the spousal death will have occurred before the 
     participant's last interview. 

     If, on the other hand, the participant was interviewed during the 2004 
     collection wave, has not experienced a spousal death since then, but has 
     experienced a parental death, they will be asked about the context of 
     their parent's death. The questions asked replicate those used to 
     capture experiences of spousal death, with the exception of questions 
     focusing on changes in health insurance coverage and finances, which are 
     omitted. If the participant was not interviewed during the 2004 
     collection wave, the same sequence of questions will be administered if 
     they have experienced a parental - but not spousal - death in the past 
     10 years. If the participant's mother and father have both died since 
     they were interviewed in 2004, or within the past 10 years, they will be 
     asked to focus on their father's death.  

Note that, if a participant has experienced both a spousal and parental death
since last being interviewed, they will only be asked about the death of their
spouse. Questions about parental death - if applicable - are only asked when
the participant has not also experienced a spousal death. The 2010 version of
the End of Life Death Reactions Module differs from its 2004 predecessor in
four major ways. First, a series of questions about the participant's
behavioral and emotional reactions to recent spousal deaths (those occurring
within the 2 years prior to their interview) has been removed. Second, several
questions about the participant's experiences of parental death have been
added. Specifically, these address providing care for a parent at the end of
life, their end of life levels of emotional distress, and the participant's
perceptions of whether their parent experienced a "good death". Third, if a
participant has experienced a spousal or parental death in the past 6 months,
we no longer refrain from asking them the end of life death reactions questions
(as was the case during the 2004 collection wave). Fourth and finally, we no
longer only focus on spousal deaths that have occurred within the 10 years
prior to the participant's interview. For participant's who were not
interviewed during the 2004 collection wave, questions will be asked about
spousal deaths occurring as far back as 1992 (the first year in which
interviews were conducted for the 1993 collection wave).    

See cor853 in Appendix U for variable creation details. 


BRIEF VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS
    _____________________________________________________________________		  
    
    HELDSTAT-HELDREL:       Module-Level Status Variables.

    HY201REC-HY700REC:	    Decedent Identification Variables 
    			    (Relationship to Participant, Time Elapsed
    			    Between Death and Interview Date)  
    
    HY218RE-HY234RE:	    Circumstances Surrounding Spouse's Death 
    
    HY235RE-HY258RE:	    Changes in Participant's Financial Situation
    			    Due to Death of Spouse
    			    
    HY401RE-HY419RE:	    Circumstances Surrounding Parent's Death

Menu