Health Perceptions and Health Promotion Behaviors in American Indian Women
Background: Most problems affecting the health of American Indian women are directly related to their lifestyles and health-related behaviors (Carter, Morse, Giruad, & Driskell, 2008; Linsley, Kane, & Owen, 2011). Understanding their health promotion behaviors could possibly decrease or prevent a number of chronic diseases that afflict the American Indian population. Furthermore, as this population ages, Medicare will fund their healthcare. In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 75% of healthcare expenditure were for chronic disease care.
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand and develop knowledge about the health perceptions and health promoting behaviors of American Indian women residing in Oklahoma.
Design and Methods: The qualitative method of grounded theory will generate a conceptual model that advances the understanding of American Indian women’s health perceptions and health promoting behaviors in terms of underlying meaning and change over varying circumstances and over time. Focus group interviews will be conducted with registered American Indian women residing Oklahoma. Research questions to be addressed include:
1) How do American Indian women define and describe health and wellness?
2) How do they describe their efforts to promote health?
3) What positive and negative health promotion behaviors do AI women engage in?
4) What barriers do they face in promoting their health?
Data Analysis: Audio-recorded focus group interviews will be transcribed verbatim and analyzed according to the methodologies of Glaser and Strauss (1967) using comparative analysis. The indicator concept model allows the researcher to simultaneously code and analyze data to develop concepts. The second strategy is theoretical sampling whereby new participants are selected to expand and support emerging concepts until theoretical saturation is achieved.
Results: Data collection is currently in process.
Implications: Developing new knowledge might possibly assist in alleviating chronic diseases within this population, as little is known about how American Indian women perceive illness, how they promote their health within the context of their culture, and the barriers they face.