SANTIAGO: A LIFE HISTORY (NURSE INTERVENTION).
Contributors: University of Kansas.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 247
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies.; Biography.
Description: This study explores the life of a 92 year old man from Mexico who has lived the last sixty-five years in the United States. Born to a Mayan father and Spanish mother, Santiago's life has been influenced by four distinctly different cultures.

The problem is that of understanding a person from another culture. It is addressed through the life history method that challenges the investigator to understand current attitudes and behaviors of a subject and how they may be influenced by initial decisions made in another time and place. The purpose of this study was to learn of the life experiences, from birth to present day, of a person from another culture so that nurses may increase their knowledge of patients from that ethnic group and plan more effective nursing interventions.

Chapter I includes a lengthy discussion of qualitative methodology in general and life history in particular. A Design Overview covers such topics as sample, contracts, instruments, ethical concerns, rapport, interviews, recording, language, and reliability and validity. Analysis of data was accomplished according to Mandelbaum's framework for analysis of life histories and Buhler's Career Theory.

The presentation of Santiago's life history is structured according to major geographic relocations that served to demarcate his life experiences. Early Years in Mexico (Chapter II) spans Santiago's activities in his native country from birth to age twenty-seven. The period ended for him when he moved to the United States and embarked upon A New Beginning (Chapter III) that was to last for fifty-seven years. Chapter IV concerns the Concessions to Old Age that he experienced while living with his daughter and her family in a new location.

Conclusions have been divided into three categories: (1) the cultural characteristics that Santiago demonstrates which are common to the Mexican-American community; (2) the usefulness of life history methodology for nurses; and (3) further implications for nursing research. Each discussion is intended to provide a descriptive base for nursing practice and discovery. Although such descriptions may also serve as baseline data for theory building, that is not the objective for this particular study.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-10, Section: B, page: 2924.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, 1987.

School code: 0099.