Browsing by Subject "African American women"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Cell Phone Information Seeking Explains Blood Pressure in African American Women
    (Sage, 2018-05) Jones, Lenette M.; Veinot, Tiffany; Pressler, Susan J.; School of Nursing
    Although cell phone use and Internet access via cell phone is not marked by racial disparities, little is known about how cell phone use relates to blood pressure and health information seeking behaviors. The purposes of this study were to (a) describe Internet activities, cell phone use, and information seeking; (b) determine differences in blood pressure and information seeking between cell phone information seekers and nonseekers; and (c) examine cell phone information seeking as a predictor of blood pressure in African American women. Participants ( N = 147) completed a survey and had their blood pressure measured. Independent-sample t tests showed a significant difference in systolic blood pressure in cell phone information seekers and nonseekers. Linear regression revealed cell phone information seeking as an independent predictor of systolic blood pressure, despite confounders. It is possible that cell phone information seekers were using health information to make decisions about self-management of blood pressure.
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    Emotion Regulation and Perceptions of Illness Coherence and Controllability on Regimen Adherence and Negative Cardiac Health Events in African American Women With Heart Failure
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2017) Wierenga, Kelly L.; Lehto, Rebecca H.; Given, Barbara; School of Nursing
    Background: African American women with heart failure (HF) have stressors that negatively impact HF self-management adherence and heighten the occurrence of negative cardiac health events. Perceptions of illness coherence and controllability and emotion regulation are known to facilitate self-management in the face of stressors. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether difficulties with emotion regulation and negative perceptions of illness coherence and controllability are detrimental to adherence and increase negative cardiac health events in this patient population. Methods: African American women (n = 54) with HF, aged 49 to 84 years, participated in this longitudinal descriptive correlational study. Using convenience sampling, we recruited patients from hospitals and HF clinics. They completed interviews at intake and 30 days, and their medical records were reviewed at 90 days. Linear and logistic regression models were used to assess predictors of general adherence and negative cardiac health events. Results: Of 54 patients who participated in the study, 28 experienced a negative health event during 90 days, and 57% of these events were cardiac related. The only clear predictor of these events was greater New York Heart Association functional classification (β = 1.47, P = .027). No associations were found between predictors (emotion regulation, controllability, coherence, age, education) and general adherence. Conclusions: Emotion regulation showed a possible greater impact on negative cardiac health events than on general adherence. Perceived illness coherence showed less impact on negative cardiac health events than on general adherence.
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    Gendered and Racialized Experiences at Central State Hospital, Indianapolis, 1877 - 1910
    (2020-12) Downey, Caitlin June; Robertson, Nancy Marie; Scarpino, Philip V.; Badertscher, Katherine; Nelson, Elizabeth Angeline
    “Gendered and Racialized Experiences at Central State Hospital, Indianapolis, 1877 – 1910” analyzes the treatment of African American patients at the now-defunct Central State Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, from the late 1870s through the 1900s. This thesis examines the impact of scientific racism and institutionalized sexism on female African American patients’ diagnoses, medical treatment, and the outcome of institutionalization through a close reading of hospital publications and a series of statistical studies of patient data. This thesis also analyzes the intersection of race and gender through the case study of one African American woman, Elizabeth Williams Furniss, who was institutionalized during the 1890s until her death in 1909. I argue that scientific racism and a deeply entrenched sexism significantly shaped the treatment of African American patients and women of all races throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Preconceived notions of race, gender, and class determined diagnoses, treatments, and treatments outcomes, without regard to individual patients’ needs. I also suggest ways for historians to identify and measure the impact of scientific racism and institutionalized sexism on African American patients in northern psychiatric institutions through statistical studies of patient data.
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    God Consciousness Enacted: Living, Moving, and Having my Being in Him
    (Washington State University, 2015) Cannon, Mercedes A.; Morton, Crystal H.
    Spirituality, historically and contemporarily, has played a crucial role in African American women's navigation of the academy. Drawing on Cozart's (2010) conceptualization of spirituality as God consciousness, this article provides a personal account of an African American graduate student's journey towards her doctoral degree at a predominately white institution. According to Cozart (2010), God consciousness guides one in her interactions within her community and the decisions one makes within those spaces. The authors share how God consciousness provides a lens to perceive, understand, and overcome challenges African American women face in the academy.
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    Hair As a Barrier to Physical Activity among African American Women: A Qualitative Exploration
    (Frontiers Media, 2018) Joseph, Rodney P.; Coe, Kathryn; Ainsworth, Barbara E.; Hooker, Steven P.; Mathis, LaTanya; Keller, Colleen; Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health
    Background. African American (AA) women face unique sociocultural barriers to physical activity (PA) engagement. Such barriers may contribute to their low PA levels and high cardiometabolic disease burden. One particular barrier reported among AA women in recent research is that being physically active can have an undesirable effect on the hairstyles and hair maintenance of many AA women. However, the underlying mechanisms contributing to this barrier have not been fully elucidated. The purpose of this study was to explore hairstyle maintenance as a barrier to PA among AA women and identify effective strategies to overcome this barrier in the design of a culturally relevant PA intervention. Methods. A qualitative study design was used. Data were collected from focus groups conducted with 23 sedentary and obese AA women (M age = 38.1 years, M BMI = 39.8 kg.m2). Content analysis was used to analyze these focus group data. Results. Three key themes emerged from the qualitative narratives of participants: 1) Impact of Perspiration on Hair and Hairstyle Maintenance, 2) Image and Social Comparisons, and, 3) Solutions to Overcome Hair-related Barriers to PA. For Impact of Perspiration and Hairstyle Maintenance, participants described how perspiring while engaging in PA negatively impacts many of their hairstyles. Participants further discussed how time and monetary burdens associated with PA-related hairstyle maintenance further contributed to this issue. Findings for the theme of Image and Social Comparison focused on how an AA woman’s hairstyle is an important part of the image and the social comparisons made by non-AAs regarding the hairstyles and maintenance practices of AA women. For Solutions to Hairstyle Maintenance Barriers, participant described a variety of potential styling techniques that may help alleviate PA-related maintenance concerns, including braids, locks, and natural hairstyles. However, no styling technique was uniformly endorsed by all study participants. Conclusions. Findings highlight the significance of hair in the AA community and provide further insight on appropriate intervention design strategies to overcome this sociocultural barrier to PA. Future research is needed to corroborate and further expand on our findings.
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    Playing patsy: film as public history and the image of enslaved African American women in post-civil rights era cinema
    (2017-12) Mitchell, Amber N.; Haberski, Raymond J.
    The goal of this thesis is to understand the relationship between the evolving representations of African American women in post-Civil Rights era films about the Transatlantic slave trade; the portraits these images present of black women and their history; and how these films approach the issues of difficult heritage and re-presenting atrocity in entertainment. Film shapes the ways in which we understand the past, leaving a lifelong impression about historical events and the groups involved. By analyzing the stories, directorial processes, and the public responses to four films of 20th and 21st centuries focused on the controversial historical topic of American chattel slavery and its representation of the most underrepresented and misunderstood victims of the Peculiar Institution, this work will argue that, when supplemented with historiography and criticism rooted in historical thinking, cinematic depictions of the past make history more accessible to the public and serve as a form of public memory, shaping the way the public thinks about our collective past.
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    TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER IN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Watts, Thomasina; Henry, Rhonda; Jordan, Patricia
    Studies comparing African American and Caucasian women show that African American women are three times more likely to contract triple negative breast cancer. Triple negative breast cancer cells lack estrogen receptors (ER) ,progesterone receptors (PR) and HER2 receptors, which are all hormones that fuel tumor growth. In triple negative breast cancer, the lack of receptors implies that hormone treatments that are typically used to treat breast cancer will not work. African American women are also more likely to die from contracting breast cancer than any other group. Many researchers have said that possible reasons for the high mortality rate in African American women can include: diet, lifestyle and genetic predisposition. This re-search project will explore the genetic predispositions underlying African American women’s higher rates of more virulent forms of develop breast cancer. I hypothesize that African American women are more likely to develop triple negative breast cancer due to a genetic mutation. This research will also address the genetic and biological reasons why African American women are more susceptible to TNEG cancer cells. Beginning data collection methods for this research will include a literature review and interviews with professionals in the field of oncology. Later investigative methods will include genealogy tests of African American women with breast cancer and performing biopsies to find similarities within the cancer cells.