I know an elderly lady that is very much like the one the OP described. Her hand strength was minimal. We tried a variety of DA revolvers, but the trigger pulls and recoil were just too much for her. I had her shoot a Ruger MKII .22LR pistol. She was able to operate it just fine. While a .22LR isn't noted as a self defense cartridge, it sure beats anything else we tried for her. YMMV.
