Browsing by Subject "Health disparities"
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Item CYFC Consortium Connections, Fall 2001, Vol 10, No 3(Children, Youth & Family Consortium, 2001) Children, Youth & Family ConsortiumItem Health Literacy and Associated Factors Among Hmong American Immigrants: Addressing the Health Disparities(Springer, 2017-05-20) Khuu, Belle, PHmong Americans face a disproportionate health burden ranging from the high prevalence of diabetes to depressive disorders. Little research attention has been paid toward exploring contributing factors to this disparity. As such, the present study seeks to fill the gap in the literature by examining the health literacy levels in Hmong Americans and its associated factors. The present study employed Andersen’s behavioral model of health service as the theoretical framework. A cross-sectional survey research design was used and information was gathered from 168 Hmong American immigrants. Participants were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors linked to health literacy. Approximately half of the participants had low health literacy and reported that they did not understand health information well. Health literacy levels were found to differ significantly based on the number of years participants have lived in the U.S., their social or religious group attendance, health status, and whether they had difficulties with activities of daily living. Our exploratory findings could be used prompt more research to help inform the development of interventions aiming to improve health literacy levels and addressItem A mixed methods approach to understanding weight-related behavioral disparities among college students by sexual orientation(2014-10) VanKim, Nicole AllisonExisting research has found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) college students are less likely to engage in healthful weight-related behaviors than heterosexual students. This dissertation builds on these findings by addressing three aims: (1) to identify major weight-related behavioral profiles by sexual orientation and gender; (2) to examine the relationship between institutional supports for LGB college students and weight-related behaviors; and (3) to explore the context surrounding weight-related health among LGB college students.In Aim 1, data from the 2009-2013 College Student Health Survey were used to fit latent class models. Overall, four distinct profiles were identified: "healthier diet," "moderate diet," "unhealthy weight control," and "healthier diet, physically active." Heterosexual and bisexual women exhibited all four profiles, discordant heterosexual women did not exhibit a "moderate diet" profile, and neither gay/lesbian nor unsure women exhibited "healthier diet, physically active" profiles. Heterosexual men exhibited all four profiles, discordant heterosexual men exhibited two profiles ("healthier diet" and "unhealthy weight control"), and gay, bisexual, and unsure men did not exhibit "healthier diet, physically active" profiles.In Aim 2, institutional-focused LGB supports (including school policies, institution-administered LGB and diversity organizations, and housing) were associated with more favorable weight-related behavioral profiles for heterosexual and some bisexual women. In contrast, these supports were associated with less favorable weight-related behavioral profiles for some gay and unsure men. Student-engaged LGB supports (including courses offered and student-run LGB groups) were not associated with students' weight-related behavioral profiles across sexual orientation and gender.In Aim 3, individual interviews with LGB, queer, and pansexual college students were conducted. Many felt their sexual orientation helped them be physically activity, engage in healthful eating habits, and have a positive body image. However, their sexual orientation was also a source of stress that adversely impacted physical activity and eating habits. Participants identified the need for institutional-level interventions to promote physical activity, healthy eating, and positive body image among LGB students.Item Understanding the meaning of medication experience among limited English proficient (LEP) Oromo patients in Minnesota(2013-05) Omar, Moustapha AbdulahiBased on Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, immigrants who speak English "less than very well" are entitled to professional language access services (LAS) and all health care providers, including pharmacies, are required to provide such services. However, many pharmacies are not currently complying with these laws. The main purpose of this study is to understand the meaning of the medication experiences among Limited English Proficient (LEP) Oromo patients in Minnesota. Major objectives of this study are: 1) to have a deeper understanding of the lived medication experiences of the research participants, 2) to describe the meaning of these experiences from the perspectives of the participants, and 3) to develop the data into themes and interpret them to uncover the deep, pre-reflexive meaning they attach to their medication experiences.This research follows Max van Mennen's hermeneutic phenomenological methodology to describe and interpret the meaning of the medication experiences of the research participants based on their subjective lived experiences. Interviews were conducted in the Oromo language, taped and transcribed in the Oromo language, and translated into English. In addition to applying hermeneutic phenomenological reflection, the text was analyzed using the holistic, selective, and detailed or line-by-line approaches to explicate essential themes. The data were transformed into text by separating essential themes from incidental themes, and developing the essential themes into text following van Manen's guidelines.The results of the data analysis were organized into six major themes under the heading of research findings in chapter nine (9) as follows: 1) beliefs regarding causes of diseases, 2) beliefs regarding the use of medicine, 3) beliefs regarding diseases that cannot be cured by western medicine, 4) love and hate relationship with prescription medications, 5) mistrust of American health care system, and, 6) lack of communication with their pharmacists. Based on the above six themes, some common characteristics that are unique to the Oromo culture and other characteristics that may be universal to all immigrants were drawn as conclusions and described in chapter nine (9). Finally, discussion of these findings and specific recommendations were given in chapters 10 and 11 respectively.