Browsing by Subject "health outcomes"

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    The Perspectives on Health Care of Women Living Poverty
    (2020) Strehlke, Kathleen
    Today, in the United States, women living in poverty are faced with many barriers to health care that affect their quality of life and life expectancy. Between the richest 1% and poorest 1% of women in the U.S., there is a life expectancy gap of 10 years (Chetty et al., 2016). Very few studies have investigated the perceptions on health care of people living in poverty. A study that explored perspectives on accessing health care found that parents living in poverty often must choose between three ideals: acceptability, availability, and affordability (Angier et al., 2014). The current study involved group interviews over Zoom and an online Qualtrics survey with a sample of 10 women from a population of 100 adults at the Steve O’Neil Apartments in Duluth, Minnesota. Guided by the Health Belief Model developed by Hochbaum, Kegels, and Rosenstock, this study explores perceptions of health care barriers, quality of health care, and health literacy among women living in poverty. Health care services were, in general, acceptable, available, and affordable with the exception of two components. Diagnostic tests and dental care services were often not available or affordable for participants. A small portion of participants may have low health literacy which indicates they need assistance with reading, talking about, and understanding health information. The combination of low health literacy and low access to diagnostic tests and dental services could contribute to poor health outcomes for people living in poverty in Duluth, Minnesota. This study contributes to data on the acceptability, affordability, and availability of health care for women living in poverty.