Wasylishyn C, Johnson J L
Nursing Department at Langara College, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Soc Sci Med. 1998 Oct;47(7):973-81. doi: 10.1016/s0277-9536(98)00170-1.
The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of how living on a low income affects the health of women and focused on the experiences of women living in a new housing co-operative built exclusively for unattached, low income women of middle age. Initially, the main focus of this study was the health beliefs, concerns, and practices of women living on a low income. As the study evolved, however, the experience of living in the housing co-operative was of such concern to the participants that the effects of housing on health came to have greater importance. A qualitative method was used based on Spradley's ethnographic method (Spradley, J. (1979). The ethnographic interview. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York). Data included interviews with ten volunteer participants and field notes about these interviews and collection spanned a period of eight months. The major health issues that arose for the women focused around the concepts of the identity, environment and control. The women frequently mentioned aspects of the environment in regards to their health. The co-operative itself was an interesting environment with the potential to reduce the women's sense of isolation. The social context of the co-operative, however, was often cited as a source of stress rather than support. One of the most striking and unexpected findings of this study was that the women did not identify with one another. The women interviewed perceived themselves as a diverse group without a common identity. Finally, control emerged as a major theme underlining the women's perceptions of health. When asked to describe their lives, the women invariably began discussing coping strategies they used to manage on a low income. One woman actually made the connection between poverty and a lack of control by defining poverty as "having no options".
本研究的目的是深入了解低收入生活如何影响女性健康，并聚焦于居住在一个专门为单身中年低收入女性建造的新住房合作社中的女性的经历。最初，本研究的主要重点是低收入女性的健康观念、担忧及行为。然而，随着研究的推进，住房合作社的生活经历引起了参与者如此大的关注，以至于住房对健康的影响变得更为重要。研究采用了基于斯普拉德利民族志方法的定性研究方法（斯普拉德利，J.（1979年）。《民族志访谈》。霍尔特、莱因哈特和温斯顿出版社，纽约）。数据包括对10名志愿者参与者的访谈以及关于这些访谈的实地记录，收集工作持续了八个月。女性出现的主要健康问题集中在身份认同、环境和掌控感这些概念上。女性经常提及环境与她们健康相关的方面。合作社本身是一个有趣的环境，有潜力减轻女性的孤立感。然而，合作社的社会环境常常被视为压力源而非支持源。本研究最显著且出乎意料的发现之一是，女性之间缺乏认同感。接受访谈的女性认为自己是一个多样化的群体，没有共同的身份认同。最后，掌控感成为凸显女性健康观念的一个主要主题。当被要求描述她们的生活时，女性总是开始讨论她们在低收入情况下所采用的应对策略。一名女性通过将贫困定义为“没有选择”，实际上将贫困与缺乏掌控感联系了起来。
