Summary of research article

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Summary of Research Article

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The 20 African American women respondents in this study were taken from a previous research by the National Institute of Aging on African Americans and European American elders who endured the deprivations caused by the Great Depression and the World Wars , where 120 respondents were stratified by ethnicity , self-reported health and gender . Ten of the women respondents in this study were those who described themselves as in excellent or good health while the other ten were those

who described themselves as in fair or poor health (Black , White and Hannum 2007

Data were collected through formal interviews and informal conversations about the respondents ' life stories , beliefs and values , issues on religion and spirituality , their thoughts on the future , and their thoughts on depression and sadness (Black , White and Hannum , 2007

The women 's current situation and their lives ' specific contexts were the basis of the respondents ' lived experiences of depression . The results show that three themes dominated the AA women 's views and lived experiences of depression

1 ) There is a link between depression and diminishment of strength . Such diminishment results from life 's difficulties such as illnesses loneliness and bad memories . This theme shows how depression is culturally and narratively constructed by the respondents in the context of their and their community 's history (Black , White and Hannum , 2007

2 ) There is a link between depression , sadness and suffering , all being the aftereffects of the same or similar event or state such as poverty The second theme shows that experiences and views of sadness , suffering and depression are constructed from the respondents ' own biographies cultural histories and their current contexts (Black , White and Hannum 2007

3 ) Depression can only be prevented or resolved through personal action or effort which must be aligned with the women 's self-conceptions , and through the recovery of one 's inner strength . These actions were usually made possible by an intact religious faith which emerged as a social construct (Black , White and Hannum , 2007

Common among the experiences of the respondents is the lack of opportunities as dictated by their gender , race and generation . These were said to have contributed significantly to depression . Still , the respondents showed no consideration of depression as a medical condition . The study focused more on the uniqueness of each respondent 's experiences , thoughts and values which showed to have been the seeds of their accounts of depression . Poverty , poor relationships , grief memories of abuse , and current situations , for the most part , had been the primary contributors to depression . Depression was neither described in clinical or biomedical terms but instead , was related to particular aspects of their lives (Black , White and Hannum , 2007

Work Cited

Black HK , White T and Hannum SM (2007 . The Lived Experience of Depression in Elderly African American Women . Journal of Gerontology Social Sciences . 62B (6 , S392-S398

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