AGE AND ILLNESS MANAGEMENT IN LATER LIFE

University Of California San Francisco, San Francisco CA

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Abstract

The overall aim of this anthropological research is to explore the experience of chronic illness, including the bodily distress caused by the onset or exacerbation of a chronic illness in later life and the cultural meanings that people who have a chronic illness attach to their illness. A series of interrelated domains are explored: 1) interpretations of illness, including use of biomedicine and other systems of medical belief and practice; 2) cultural beliefs about age and illness; 3) participation of family and friends in illness management, and 4) access to and utilization of health care resources, both formal and informal, including the effect of economic status and resources on illness management. Focusing on these domains facilitates an examination of illness experience and bodily distress within its social, cultural, and economic context, and pinpoints social, cultural, and economic differences within and between groups. We will examine the All range of this experience by studying 200 individuals age 50 and over longitudinally, 50 in each of the following groups: African Americans, Latinos, Filipino Americans, and whites/Euro-Americans over a period of one year (3 interviews each at 6-month intervals). Qualitative analysis will be undertaken in a systematic progression of steps and will be supported by quantitative analysis of health measurement data, measures, and qualitatively-derived data.