PI: John R. Warren Co-PI: Elaine M. Hernandez University of Minnesota, Twin-Cities
This study combines an emerging approach in medical sociology that focuses on the importance of new health information and disease preventability with the literature that describes the influence of social relationships on medical decision-making. To examine the influence of new health information and social relationships, the research will focus on women who are pregnant for the first time and must navigate a plethora of new health information. A mixed-method design is employed comprised of survey interviews and in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Over the course of a year, women will be sequentially enrolled from local health clinics during their first prenatal visit to participate in an in-person survey interview and conduct in-depth interviews with a subset of the women during their third trimester.
Broader Impacts: This study will not only advance knowledge about the processes that contribute to inequalities in health, but it will also provide insight into decisions about behaviors that lead to unequal health among women and infants.
Federal Award ID: 1002794 Report Submission Period: 04/01/2011 to 08/31/2011 Socially advantaged people are better able to avoid newly identified health risks when biomedical information emerges, and they are positioned to make decisions that lead to longer and healthier lives. Over time this results in the formation of a socioeconomic gradient in health—the unintended consequences of biomedical advances. To gain a better understanding of this process, I consider the role of education, health knowledge and social relationships in decisions about health. I focus on a specific empirical example: prenatal health behaviors among women who are pregnant for the first time (prima gravida women). Over the course of sixteen months, 225 prima gravida women from four clinics participated in in-person survey interviews during their first or second trimesters, and 41 participated in in-depth interviews at the beginning of their third trimesters. The results provide evidence that health knowledge and social network processes influence the association between education and decisions about health behaviors, but education remains a predictor of health behaviors. This example not only advances our knowledge about the processes that contribute to inequalities in health, it also provides insight into decisions about behaviors that lead to unequal health among women and infants. Findings from this research have been presented at the 2011 annual meetings of the Population Association of America and the American Sociological Association. I am also working closely with staff at participating clinics to disseminate final reports to participating clinics and study participants. These findings will allow obstetricians, midwives and nurses to adapt their prenatal care to help prevent social inequalities in health among pregnant women.
