LIVED EXPERIENCE OF STAYING HEALTHY IN RURAL BLACK FAMILIES.
Contributors: University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 118
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Health.
Description: Recent trends in health care emphasize that individuals and families are expected to take more responsibility for their health. Some contend that health promotion is a middle-class phenomenon, yet very little is known about actual promotion and illness prevention experiences ("staying healthy") in low-income populations. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of staying healthy in rural black families.

Phenomenology was the structure that guided the study and the method used for the analysis of the findings. Purposeful sampling resulted in a final study population of 10 families and 21 family members who described themselves as "staying healthy." Field notes and open-ended interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and subjected to the Giorgi phenomenological method of analysis.

"Feeling strong" was the construct that encompassed the essence of "staying healthy," and the other constructs within the descriptive framework included: emotional tranquility, "doing right," supportive family/social interactions, and accelerated body tempo. Theme variations revealed that some of the "healthy" families did, and some did not have members with diagnosed health alterations. The families who recognized that they "learned something" from previous life experiences reported more person-environment interactions and a more complex pattern of self-care than the families who did not recognize the pattern of their life experiences as meaningful.

It was concluded that staying healthy is an individualized phenomenon, although some commonalities exist. The findings suggest that accelerated person-environment interaction, the recognition of a meaning for life events, and a preference for self-care may be associated. Margaret Newman's definition of health, Martha Rogers' view of families, and certain constructs within Orem's theory of self-care were supported by the study findings.

Recommendations for study included: additional phenomenological research on the lived experience of staying healthy in other populations and quantitative research to explore possible correlations between accelerated person-environment interaction, the recognition of meaning in life events, and a preference for self-care.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-09, Section: B, page: 3925.

Thesis (D.S.N.)--UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, 1989.

School code: 0005.