Understanding the Relationship between Psychological Well-Being and Well-Woman Visit and Preventive Care Use in Midlife African-American Women

University Of Illinois At Chicago, Chicago IL

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Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY Midlife adults who access preventive services are more likely to maintain health and independence in old age. Currently, preventive care is underutilized in the U.S., which results in increased morbidity, lost lives, and inefficient use of health care expenditures. Fewer than 1 in 3 midlife women are up to date on select preventive services recommended for their age and gender, and African-American women are particularly at risk for deleterious health outcomes that might be mitigated through adherent and increased preventive care use. Earlier screening and detection for African-American women could help reduce death rates from cancer and other chronic conditions and increased screening could also have a positive impact on the quality of their health and mortality. Due to the significant underuse of effective preventive care in the U.S., it is important to identify factors that may increase awareness and use of preventive care services. Psychological well-being (PWB) may provide an important target for interventions aimed at increasing timely utilization of well-woman visits and preventive services. A number of studies have found correlations between positive health behaviors and correlates of well-being; however, very few studies were identified that directly examined the associations of facets of PWB and use of preventive care services specifically in midlife adults, and even fewer in midlife African-American women. The purpose of this study is to explore and understand midlife (aged 40 to 64) African-American women's perceptions and experiences of psychological well-being and how these perceptions affect their utilization of well-woman visits and preventive health care services. This study will be conducted using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design where quantitative data are collected and analyzed first followed by collection and analysis of qualitative data, which will be used to further explicate quantitative results. For the first, quantitative phase of the study, electronic questionnaires will be emailed to eligible and potentially eligible women with an intended sample size of 384 women. The results from survey analyses will determine which relationships need deeper exploration in the second, qualitative phase. Quantitative results will also be used to help further refine qualitative interview questions. During the qualitative phase, twenty in-depth, semi-structured, one-on-one interviews will be conducted with a subset of women who participated in the survey. Women will be recruited to participate in both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of this research from the Service Employees International Union - Healthcare Illinois Indiana (SEIU HCII) headquartered in Chicago. It is anticipated that a better understanding of the factors that impact the relationship between midlife African-American women's psychological well-being and use of preventive services may inform strategies to increase preventive care utilization, which will in turn positively impact disease and disability as they age.