Experiences of Depression in Low Income Elderly Women

Kim, Jeung Im; Son, Haeng Mi

doi:2016.22.4.241

Korean J Women Health Nurs > Volume 22(4); 2016 > Article

Original Article

Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing 2016;22(4):241-253.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4069/kjwhn.2016.22.4.241 Published online December 27, 2016.

Experiences of Depression in Low Income Elderly Women

Jeung Im Kim, Haeng Mi Son

¹School of Nursing, Soonchunhyang University, Chonan, Korea.
²Department of Nursing, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, Korea. sonhm@mail.ulsan.ac.kr

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this qualitative research was to understand the meaning of the depression in low income elderly women.
METHODS
Participants were 15 elderly women, aged between 60 and 80 who were registered in two senior welfare centers in Seoul. Data were collected from June to December, 2012 after having obtained consent from participants. In-depth interviews were done with open-ended questions about their depression experiences, which were audio-taped and transcribed with verbatim. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis to discover the categories considering their relationships and abstractness.
RESULTS
Depressions of aged women were a part of the their life throughout their long lived hardship and was implied unhealed wounds within the relationship. Participants did not know how to manage with depression symptoms that they tried to overcome individually but due to decreased activities and interpersonal relationships, their depressions were tended to continue. They have tried to get out from depressive symptoms, but it still remains unseen shadow of mind.
CONCLUSION
This results suppose that social support and aged welfare policy included reliving the economical difficulty and improving relationships will be provided to manage the depression for low income elderly women.

Key Words: Depression; Poverty; Aged; Women; Qualitative research