Gender-related concerns of rural women with severe and persistent mental illnesses.
This study used focus groups to investigate the perceptions of rural women with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) about their gender-related health concerns. In a series of five focus groups conducted with 16 women at rural psychosocial clubhouses, women with SPMI discussed many gender-related issues, including unresolved grief over loss of children, isolation from family members, lack of sexual partners, diminished sexuality, and bodily changes secondary to medication side-effects. Women with mental illness felt like their roles as women was superseded by their role as mentally ill individuals. Rural women with SPMI have unmet needs for women's health. Psychiatric nurses have the optimal background for addressing gender-related concerns of rural women with SPMI.
Lyon
Debra
D
University of Virginia, School of Nursing, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. del2a@virginia.edu
Parker
Barbara
B
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005783:Gender Identity; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing; D012423:Rural Health; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D019529:Sexuality / Q000523:psychology; D012934:Social Isolation; D014768:Virginia; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*; D016387:Women's Health