Winters Charlene A, Cudney Shirley A, Sullivan Therese, Thuesen Alta
College of Nursing, Montana State University, Missoula Campus, 32 Campus Drive 7416, Missoula, MT 59812-7416, USA.
Chronic Illn. 2006 Dec;2(4):273-89. doi: 10.1177/17423953060020040801.
To examine the rural context and describe its influence on the self-management of chronic illness by women living in a rural setting.
The Women to Women (WTW) project is a research-based computer intervention that provides health education and peer support to rural women with chronic health conditions. Messages posted to the online support and health education chat rooms were examined to determine the characteristics of the rural context in relation to the women's illness self-management.
'Distance' was the overarching characteristic of the rural context that influenced the women's ability to self-manage their chronic health problems. The effect of distance was woven throughout each of the four predominant themes that emerged from the data as having influence - physical setting, social/cultural/economic environment, nature of women's work, and accessibility/quality of healthcare. These influences affected the women's self-management abilities both negatively and positively.
The rural context profoundly influenced the ability of rural women to self-manage their chronic conditions. From the data, health professionals and policy-makers can glean information about the barriers to healthcare faced by rural women who are trying to manage their chronic health problems in comparative isolation.
考察农村环境，并描述其对农村地区慢性病女性患者自我管理的影响。
“女性对女性”（WTW）项目是一项基于研究的计算机干预措施，为患有慢性健康问题的农村女性提供健康教育和同伴支持。对在线支持和健康教育聊天室中发布的信息进行了分析，以确定与女性疾病自我管理相关的农村环境特征。
“距离”是农村环境的首要特征，它影响了女性自我管理慢性健康问题的能力。距离的影响贯穿于数据中出现的四个主要影响主题——物理环境、社会/文化/经济环境、女性工作性质以及医疗保健的可及性/质量。这些影响对女性的自我管理能力既有消极影响，也有积极影响。
农村环境深刻影响了农村女性自我管理慢性病的能力。从数据中，卫生专业人员和政策制定者可以收集到有关在相对孤立的情况下管理慢性健康问题的农村女性所面临的医疗保健障碍的信息。
