A nursing practice paradigm for depressed rural women: the Women's Affective Illness Treatment Program

Major depressive disorder (MDD) results from a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors that act as historical and contemporary antecedents. To promote and maintain recovery from depression women with MDD must understand their depression risk, act to reduce symptoms, and maintain a lifetime program of relapse prevention. This requires self-care skills including self-assessment, stress response reduction, and health behavior modification. The Women's Affective Illness Treatment Program (WAIT) is a skill-based depression recovery program that addresses the complex cause of major depressive disorder in women. WAIT is based on the Nursing Practice Paradigm described in a previously published article.