Dimensions of power : older women’s experiences with depression and electroconvulsive therapy

• Main Author: Orr, Alison L.
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/11851

This research explored how women over the age of 65 have wholistically experienced depression and receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a treatment for their depression. Women's voices were gathered through in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with six participants between the ages of 71 and 89 who had been diagnosed with depression and received ECT. The qualitative analysis revealed that these women's experiences could be described as a four-part journey. The four stages of their experiences were: becoming depressed, conditions of getting help, the treatment, and the hope for recovery. Across each of these stages of the women's experiences, the theme of power and its many dimensions played a predominant role. Relevant dimensions of power identified were: the power of the depression, lack of power due to multiple losses, structural inequities, and gender socialization, and the power held by healthcare professionals in the lives of these women. The findings from this study hold specific implications for the process of informed consent, and the necessity of including women's voices and alternative models of understanding in healthcare policy-making, program development and service delivery. Recommendations for change come by way of feminist theory and empowerment-oriented social work practice with older adult women.