The overall aim of this qualitative, anthropological research is to explore how chronically ill people in three ethnic minority groups who are uninsured attempt to manage their illnesses, with emphasis on the roles that age and ethnicity play. Four interrelated domains are explored: 1) access to and utilization of health care resources, both formal and informal, including the effect of economic status and financial resources on illness management; 2) interpretations of illness, including use of biomedicine and other systems of medical belief and practice; 3) cultural beliefs about age and illness; and 4) participation of family and friends in illness management. Focusing on these domains enables us to examine illness experience and bodily distress within its social, cultural, and economic context, and thus to pinpoint social, cultural, and economic differences within and between groups. We will examine the full range of this experience by studying 180 individuals, 60 in each of the following groups: African American, Latinos, and Filipino Americans. A subset of 20 from each group will be interviewed longitudinally, with 3 interviews at 6-month intervals. Qualitative analysis will be undertaken in a systematic progression of steps and will be supported by quantitative analysis of health measurement data, measures, and qualitatively-derived data.
| Becker, Gay; Gates, Rahima Jan; Newsom, Edwina (2004) Self-care among chronically ill African Americans: culture, health disparities, and health insurance status. Am J Public Health 94:2066-73 |
| Becker, Gay (2004) Deadly inequality in the health care ""safety net"": uninsured ethnic minorities' struggle to live with life-threatening illnesses. Med Anthropol Q 18:258-75 |
