142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

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Perceptions and personal residential segregation experiences: Developing a culturally appropriate racial composition measure among medically underserved patients

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014 : 9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Jewel Stafford, MSW , George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Cassandra Arroyo-Johnson, MS, PhD , Division of Public Health Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
Melody S. Goodman, PhD , Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO
Kimberly Kaphingst, ScD , Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO
Introduction:  Residential segregation is considered one of the many causes of health disparities.  Communities of color in St. Louis, MO experience higher poverty rates, lower median incomes, and less access to quality health care services.  To better understand how this environment impacts health outcomes for vulnerable populations in our region, we developed and tested a graphic measure to examine self-reported racial composition across the life course. 

Methods:  We conducted 10 cognitive interviews with blacks to ensure comprehension and refine the measure.  The revised measure was then tested in 2 focus groups with black participants.  Interview and focus group participants were recruited from a primary care clinic that serves as a medical safety net.  Participants were asked to provide feedback and reactions to six environments described on the graphic measure (junior high, high school, neighborhood growing up, current neighborhood, workplace, and place of worship).

Results:  Interview responses suggested that participants were initially confused, but were able to comprehend and answer the questions for all of the environments. The refined measure improved comprehension among focus group participants. Some placed emphasis on gender and racial diversity of pictures and provided meaningful input to further refine the measure.    Participants also used personal stories of segregation experiences to relate to the racial composition measure. 

Conclusions:  Individual racial segregation experiences are a sensitive topic, and a challenging construct to measure.  This racial composition measure may prove beneficial to researchers with an interest in how exposure to segregated environments impacts health behaviors and health outcomes.

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the development of a culturally appropriate racial composition measure Describe how personal residential segregation experiences impact health outcomes among medically underserved patients

Keyword(s): Health Disparities/Inequities, Underserved Populations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I am the research coordinator for this study, participated in recruitment of participants, conducted interviews and one of the focus groups. I received my MSW in 2005 from Stony Brook University.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a biostatistician and social epidemiologist with expertise in measurement development on social determinants of health. My scientific interests are community based participatory research, measuring features of the social and built environment for health and wellness, physical activity measurement and analysis, and measurement of social and behavioral determinants of health along the lifecourse.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.