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Abstract
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INTRODUCTION: Intimate partner violence (IPV) exerts a detrimental impact on the lives and health of all who experience abuse. This includes both physical and mental health and wellbeing. The experiences of older women however may be different and these differences may not be recognised or accounted for within existing care provision.
AIM: To explore the impact of IPV on the lives and health of older women told from the particular perspective of older women themselves as these accounts are largely absence from existing IPV discourse.
METHOD: An arts based research approach with five older women survivors of IPV through the co-development and organisation of an arts based workshop. The workshop essentially encompassed four main arts strands and included the creation of clay models and poetry.
FINDINGS: The findings of the study highlight the significant impact of IPV on the lives, mental health and wellbeing of older women. This included feelings of social isolation, inability to trust others and a loss of self-identity.
DISCUSSION: IPV is a global issue and as such of relevance for those working in healthcare contexts beyond the UK. While there is a growing body of evidence surrounding IPV and older women this has largely been presented through researcher led accounts and as such the narratives of women themselves may not have been adequately acknowledged. Unlike much of the existing evidence, the present study has explored the particular situation for older women as told through creative expression and their own stories of survivorship. In the present study the fluidity of the potential materials available in the workshops meant that both the representations through which the women spoke and the primacy of their voices, over those of more traditional researcher accounts, was in evidence throughout. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Language: en |