© 2004 American Public Health Association
The authors are with the Institute for Health and Aging, University of California, San Francisco. Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Gay Becker, PhD, Institute for Health and Aging, University of California, San Francisco, Box 0646, San Francisco, CA 94143-0646 (e-mail: becker{at}itsa.ucsf.edu).
Little is known about the self-care practices of chronically ill African Americans or how lack of access to health care affects self-care. Results from a qualitative interview study of 167 African Americans who had one or more chronic illnesses found that self-care practices were culturally based, and the insured reported more extensive programs of self-care. Those who had some form of health insurance much more frequently reported the influence of physicians and health education programs in self-care regimens than did those who were uninsured. It is concluded that the cultural components of self-care have been underemphasized, and further, that the potential to maximize chronic illness management through self-care strategies is not realized for those who lack access to health care. This article has been cited by other articles:
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