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Domestic abuse and older women: exploring the opportunities for service development and care delivery
- Authors:
- McGARRY Julie, SIMPSON Christine
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Adult Protection, 13(6), 2011, pp.294-301.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
The aim of this study was to explore older women's experiences of domestic abuse and its impact on their health and lives. Information for the qualitative research was collected during in-depth interviews with 16 women aged 63 to 79 years, identified through a counselling service and local media, who had experienced domestic abuse. The transcribed interviews were analysed to identify emerging themes. This article reports on the findings, with examples from the interviews, covering: impact of domestic abuse on the lives and physical and mental health of older women, potential barriers to reporting domestic abuse, and service provision for older women. The authors note that for older women there are additional challenges in accessing services and receiving appropriate support, and discuss the findings, existing policy, and the implications for service development.
From the woman's viewpoint: ethical dilemmas confronted by women as informal caregivers of frail elders
- Author:
- KOENIG Terry L.
- Journal article citation:
- Families in Society, 85(2), April 2004, pp.236-242.
- Publisher:
- The Alliance for Children and Families
Women as informal caregivers face complex ethical dilemmas in caring for a frail elder. Through in depth interviews with 13 ethnically diverse caregivers, this qualitative study explored women’s ethical decision-making. Focus group interviews of home health staff, key informant caregivers, and interviewees provided guidance for research design, reflection on findings and development of implications. Findings are integrated into an ethical decision-making model that includes types of ethical dilemmas (e.g. protection of life vs. autonomy); feelings that permeate decision making (e.g. fear); processes for addressing ethical dilemmas (e.g. family collaboration); and supportive services. Implications include expansion of services to meet caregivers’ ongoing needs, research that acknowledges multiple decision-making components, and the use of caregiving vignettes in the classroom.
“It’s not a great boulder, it’s just a piece of baggage”: older women’s reflections on healing from childhood sexual abuse
- Authors:
- GRAHAM Katie, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(1-2), 2022, pp.705-725.
- Publisher:
- Sage
In this study, we explored older women’s reflections on processes of healing related to childhood sexual abuse (CSA). We aimed to answer questions about how childhood trauma was integrated into the life story and to identify factors or coping strategies that aided, or hindered, healing. Participants within this study included 12 women who were aged 60 or older and had reported CSA as adults at the beginning of the research project, 25 years prior. Qualitative interviews were conducted exploring women’s reflections on the place of CSA in their lives over time and factors the participants thought were helpful or unhelpful in being able to come to terms with the abuse. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, which resulted in three themes related to processes of healing. The themes identified were need for resolution, thinking about it differently, and developing agency over disclosure. The findings show that some form of resolution was needed for the women to recover and move on from their experiences of CSA. The two key strategies used to reach this resolution were reframing their experience or drawing upon positive life philosophies. Decisions around disclosure were also an important part of the healing process, with the women developing an agency over if, and how, they talked to people about their experience. Those women who were not able to make sense of their experience continued to be influenced by the negative feelings and memories associated with the experience. Our findings have implications for health professionals working with those who have experienced trauma. They demonstrate that there are a number of ways that people heal from trauma and find personal resolution across their lifespan. (Edited publisher abstract)
Hushed voices: views and experiences of older women on partner abuse in later life
- Authors:
- BHATIA Pankhuri, SOLETTI Asha Banu
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing International, 44(1), 2019, pp.41-56.
- Publisher:
- Springer
- Place of publication:
- New York
Intimate partner violence(IPV) in later life is a topic that is in its infancy in India. IPV among elderly women in particular has largely been overlooked by researchers as well as by the service providers primarily because the society doesn’t recognise IPV in later life. Moreover, it gets gleaned over because of the incertitude about categorising the violence inflicted upon elderly women by their partners under the fold of Elder Abuse(EA) or Domestic Violence(DV). People working in the area of Domestic Violence usually provide services to the women in their 20s and 30s and not to women older than 50 experiencing similar abusive relationships. People working in the area of Elder Abuse focus on abuse perpetrated by children and caregivers and not on abuse by partners. This confucion of categorisation has led to a complete neglect of this area of public health concern. The present exploratory study was designed to understand the causes, patterns and psychosocial consequences of IPV among elderly women (50 years and above). Using a multi-method approach, this qualitative study aims to identify key themes, and issues related to causes and consequences of IPV in later life. The data draws primarily from in-depth interviews with the survivors of abuse in later life and focus group discussions conducted with women of lower and middle class who are all 50 above. In addition to this, in-depth interviews were done with the key informants who are the service providers for such women. The survivors were chosen through critical case purposive sampling technique, while, the key informants were chosen using expert purposive sampling technique. For condensing the interviews, thematic analysis was performed. The results revealed that the perception of traditional gender roles in the society had led to preservation of women's subordinate position. When the participants of this research were growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, the social bounderies of gender were extremely rigid and the wives were expected to behave in a way that was acceptable for husbands. Abuse mostly started in early age and tended to continue in later life. But the form of abuse often changes as the couples became older. Physical abuse declined with age and was replaced by psychological abuse. Lack of support in old age and the stigma attached to divorce were the biggest restraining factors. Most women reported education and mass media as the primary agents of change. The psychological and social consequences included recourse to substance use, withdrawal from social life, low self- esteem, etc. The study has implications both for policy making and clinical practice. (Edited publisher abstract)
Reflections on living with HIV over time: exploring the perspective of HIV-infected women over 5
- Authors:
- PSAROS Christina, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 19(2), 2014, pp.121-128.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: This study explores the experiences of US women over 50 living with HIV to better understand how they make sense of their diagnosis and cope with their illness over time and during the aging process. Method: Nineteen women (mean age = 56.79, SD = 4.63) referred from Boston-area organisations and hospitals completed one-time, in-depth individual interviews, out of which 47% of the participants were identified as Black/African Americans, and 37% as White. The average time since diagnosis was 16.32 years (SD = 5.70). Inclusion criteria included: (1) female sex, (2) aged 50 or older, (3) HIV diagnosis, and (4) English speaking. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach and NVivo 9 software. Results: Findings are described across the following themes: (1) experiences at diagnosis, (2) uncertainty of disease course, (3) acceptance, and (4) living ‘well’ with HIV. Participants appeared to be well adjusted to their HIV diagnosis and described a progression to acceptance and survivorship; they identified strategies to ‘live well’ in the context of HIV. For some, health-related uncertainty about the future remained. These findings were organised into a model of coping with HIV. Conclusion: Themes and issues identified by this study may help guide interventions across the lifespan for women with HIV. (Edited publisher abstract)
Internal barriers to help seeking for middle-aged and older women who experience intimate partner violence
- Authors:
- BEAULAURIER Richard L., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 17(3), 2005, pp.53-74.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
There has been relatively little qualitatively or quantitatively published research to guide the field in identifying and addressing barriers to seeking help for older women who experience domestic violence. Women over the age of 45 have seldom been participants in research on domestic violence. This paper describes results from a qualitative study that focused on reactions to and internalization of abusive behaviours of an intimate partner. Twenty-one focus groups were conducted with 134 middle aged and older women in Florida, USA. Analysis of the data identified six factors that describe reactions to abusive behaviour that become barriers to help seeking, including self-blame, powerlessness, hopelessness, the need to protect family, and the need to keep such abuse secret from others. These findings are discussed with implications for community outreach and future research. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).
HIV-risk factors for midlife and older women
- Authors:
- NEUNDORFER Marcia M., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 45(5), October 2005, pp.617-625.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
In this qualitative study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 HIV-positive women, aged 45 to 71 years from the USA, regarding their exposure to HIV. From these narratives, five individual factors or themes that put women at risk for HIV were identified: drug and alcohol abuse; not knowing the HIV-risk histories of male sexual partners; mental health issues, including physical or sexual abuse and life crises; taking risks for the sake of relationships; and lack of HIV-prevention information. These individual factors and sociocultural factors related to gender, age, and race and ethnicity were organized into a model of HIV-risk factors for midlife and older women. This model identifies themes to be addressed in HIV-prevention policy, practice, and research in order to reduce the number of new cases of HIV infection among midlife and older women.
Capturing the complexity of women's experiences: a mixed-method approach to studying incontinence in older women
- Authors:
- SHAPIRO Margaret, SETTERLUND Deborah, CRAGG Carole
- Journal article citation:
- Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 18(1), Spring 2003, pp.21-33.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Capturing the voices of women when the issue is of a sensitive nature has been a major concern of feminist researchers. This article explores the use of a mixed-method approach to collect data on incontinence in older women and argues for the use of a variety of creative approaches to collect and analyse data.
At the receiving end of male care: experiences of older disabled women
- Author:
- GIRDHAM Marie
- Journal article citation:
- Generations Review, 12(1), April 2002, pp.7-8.
- Publisher:
- British Society of Gerontology
Presents the preliminary findings of a research project, which aims to explore the worlds of older disabled women who are receiving care from their husbands.
Empowerment, disempowerment and quality of life for older people
- Authors:
- AFSHAR Haleh, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Generations Review, 11(4), December 2001, pp.12-13.
- Publisher:
- British Society of Gerontology
Reports on a research project which is part of the ESRC Growing Older initiative. Looks particularly at how Black and Asian women understand and evaluate their quality of life and how this quality might be extended. Looks at the findings to date.