Health Risk Characteristics of Black Female Informal Caregivers on Welfare

Muriel C. Rice, Mona N. Wicks and Judy C. Martin
Additional contact information
Muriel C. Rice: University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis
Mona N. Wicks: University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis
Judy C. Martin: Memphis and Shelby County Health Department, Memphis, TN

Clinical Nursing Research, 2008, vol. 17, issue 1, 20-31

Abstract: This exploratory study examines differences in health risk characteristics and perceived health by caregiver status in two groups of Black women, 37 informal caregivers and 20 noncaregivers, transitioning from welfare to work. Health risk characteristics were assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and Healthier People Network Health Risk Appraisal—Version 6. Body mass index (BMI) calculations were based on the standard Centers for Disease Control formula. Perceived health status was assessed using a single-item Cantril ladder. Results show no statistically significant between-group differences in perceived health status, depressive symptoms, frequency of lifestyle behaviors, or BMI. Clinically significant proportions of participants in both groups rated their health as poor or fair; reported mild to severe depressive symptoms; smoked cigarettes; did not perform monthly self-breast exams; were physically inactive, overweight, or obese; and consumed high-fat diets. Black women receiving welfare show increased risk for premature chronic health problems, which warrants development of effective community-based risk-reduction programs.

Keywords: caregiver; health risk; welfare; Black women (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1054773807311689 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:clnure:v:17:y:2008:i:1:p:20-31

DOI: 10.1177/1054773807311689

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Clinical Nursing Research
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().