Personal Perception of Health in Urban Women of Low Socioeconomic Status: A Qualitative Study

• Main Authors: Kimberly Paige Rathbun, Victoria Loerzel, Joellen Edwards
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2020-05-01
• Series: Journal of Primary Care & Community Health
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2150132720925951

Introduction: Women of low socioeconomic status experience health disparities that contribute to poor outcomes. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore self-perception of health and health promoting behaviors in women who were patients in a federally qualified health center. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used to interview 19 women. The researchers conducted content analysis and used descriptive statistics to present participant demographics. Results: Women viewed health primarily as physical and themselves as healthy, in-between healthy and unhealthy , or unhealthy. Healthy women made more active attempts to improve their health, while not healthy women reported twice as many barriers to health maintenance and felt defined by their illnesses. Conclusion: Findings support that a women’s self-perception of health is aligned with self-management health behaviors and health outcomes.