SOCIAL SUPPORTS OF OLDER HAITIANS IN PORT-AU-PRINCE AND MIAMI: EFFECTS ON HEALTH PRACTICES AND PERCEIVED HEALTH STATUS (FLORIDA).
Contributors: University of California, San Francisco.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 206
Subjects: Health Sciences, Public Health.; Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Older ethnic minorities often use their informal social support network to fulfill many of their needs including health care, although their health status may require intervention from a formalized system for care and treatment. Older individuals, in general, depend more on the members of their social network than do other age groups because of the many life events that impact the aging individual. The older immigrant has the additional problems of migration, loss of network members and also confrontation by an often hostile society. All of these migration experiences are intensified for Haitians who migrate to the United States because of their African heritage and skin color.

The social support that is provided by the social network members to older Haitians was studied to determine its relationship to the older Haitian's health-seeking practices and self-rated health status. A comparison was made between older Haitians living in Miami, Florida and older Haitians yet living in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

The Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire, an interview guide to collect the subjects' report of preventive health care practices, and a short questionnaire regarding self-rated health status were used to interview ninety-seven (97) subjects, 45 in Miami and 52 in Port-Au-Prince.

The findings showed that the Miami subjects reported having a slightly larger network than their Haitian counterparts. Although the Miami subjects had less contact from network members than the Haitian subjects, they reported being in better health.

The older Haitians in both countries reported using a variety of similar folk remedies and other self-care practices to maintain health and prevent illness.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-09, Section: B, page: 4611.

Thesis (D.N.S.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 1992.

School code: 0034.