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Health and illness concepts among lower income Nicaraguan women

Rita L Ailinger1, Rose Gonzalez, Lidya Zamora

  • 1School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.

Qualitative Health Research
|February 16, 2007
PubMed

Concepts of health and illness are culturally defined; however, few researchers have reported on these concepts among Latina women. A purposive sample of 14 lower income Nicaraguan women living in a squatter settlement is the focus of this qualitative study. The authors used in-depth, tape-recorded interviews in Spanish to gather data on the women's concepts of health and illness for adults and babies and of health maintenance activities. The authors analyzed the verbatim transcripts and analyzed them for themes. The women's concepts of health and illness included four themes: activities, disposition, eating, and appearance. Health maintenance activities included hygiene and sanitation, medical intervention, nutrition, and the appearance of cleanliness. Nurses and other health care providers will find these themes instructive in developing and providing health services for similar Latina women.

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