M.Cur. / The problems women in our community are faced with are multi-dimensional and there is absolutely no community that can be declared problem-free. Many women face the pressure of having a number of responsibilities namely working, being a wife and mother, taking care of their families and perhaps caring for aging parents. Sometimes the pressure can be too overwhelming to manage. As a result, many women become depressed. The genuine life events that most often appear in connection with depression are various, but there is one distinguishing feature that appears in many cases, over and over: loss of self-esteem, of empowerment, of self confidence accompanied by feelings of worthlessness. In general, any life change, often caused by events beyond one's control, will damage the structure that gave life meaning. The likelihood of becoming depressed is increased by the lack of supportive, confiding relationship with a partner, spouse, friend, stressful life events and poor communication patterns within relationships. Studies on depression among Black-African women could not be traced. Despite the fact that considerable research on the women and depression has been done in other parts of the world, no studies have been done on similar subjects in Namibia. It was therefore considered necessary to find out how women suffering from depression from this part of the world tell their life stories. The purposes of the study were two-fold. Firstly, to explore and describe the life stories of adult depressed women in perk urban Namibia. Secondly, to use the information obtained to describe guidelines for the compilation of a health education support program for psychiatric nurses working with these patients at psychiatric outpatient clinic as well as in the community. The research questions that were generated are: how do adult depressed women tell their life stories, and then how can the information be utilised to describe guidelines to support psychiatric nurses to assist depressed women in their quest for mental health? The researcher used an exploratory, descriptive, contextual and phenomenological qualitative design to answer these research questions. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with ten (10) respondents who have been purposively selected. This was done after obtaining the necessary permission from the Ministry of Health and Social Services and informed consent from the research participants. The interviews were conducted by the researcher in Oshiwambo and English. Steps were taken throughout the course of the study to ensure trustworthiness. All the interviews were transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed following Tesch's method and the service of an independent coder was obtained. The results indicate that impaired interpersonal interactions and stressful life events have a negative influence on the daily life of women leading to the development of depressive symptoms. Guidelines intended to support psychiatric nurses were drawn up based on the themes that emerged from the raw data. These guidelines are strategies to be used by psychiatric nurses working with depressed women to assist them in managing their own depression. Possibilities for the application of the results in nursing education, nursing practice, nursing research are discussed. It is concluded that women suffering from depression need support from the psychiatric nurses in order to facilitate the promotion, maintenance and restoration of their mental health, which is an integral part of health.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:2817 |
| Date | 20 August 2012 |
| Creators | Shifiona, Ndapeua Nehale |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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