The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #49657

Angela Odoms-Young, PhD, Human and Community Development, University of Illinios -Urbana/Champaign, 9310 S. Prairie, Chicago, IL 60619, 773-928-0206, odoms_young@msn.com, Carolyn Tubbs, PhD, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, 601 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802, Hyun Joo Oh, PhD, Department of Health Policy and Administration, Pennsylvania State University, 1137 N. Pine Rd., Essexville, MI 48732, and Robin Jarrett, PhD, Human and Community Development, University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, 269 Bevier Hall, 905 S. Goodwin Ave (MC 184), Urbana, IL 61801.

Women facing persistent poverty and inadequate resources confront a myriad of mental and physical health problems over their lifetimes. In developing appropriate strategies to address those problems, an in-depth understanding of low-income women's perceptions of their health, as well as the social, cultural and life course contexts in which they occur, is essential. The objective of this presentation is to discuss how traditional qualitative methods can be combined with health histories in order to advance and deepen that understanding. The data come from a subsample of the Welfare, Children and Families Three City Ethnographic Study, which focuses on the effects of welfare reform on the well-being of low-income families with young children. As part of a longitudinal ethnography, semi-structured interviews, participant observations and health histories were conducted with African-American and Caucasian women and Latinas, who are approximately 18-42 years of age and reside in selected neighborhoods within the city of Chicago. Case studies highlighting the health issues of 15 study participants will be presented to illustrate the implications of using a multi-method approach for intervention and policy development.

Learning Objectives: Participants will

• develop knowledge of different qualitative methods and ways to combine them
• recognize the powerful insight gained by methodological triangulation in research on the specific needs and circumstances of low-income women and
• articulate how triangulation can be used in the development of public health interventions and policies.

Keywords: Methodology, Women's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.