The purpose of this 3-phase pilot study was to ensure that measures and methods used to test a model of role quality and health in chronically ill women are culturally relevant and sensitive to women of color, low-income women, and women with limited formal education. Phase 1 consisted of a review of social role measures by nurse experts with subsequent clarification of items and sentence structure. Phase 2 consisted of two community-based focus groups: one with African-American women (n=11, age range 19-50 years), and one with Latina women (n=11, age range 24-66 years) conducted to seek feedback about the cultural relevance, clarity, and readability of the role quality measures. In phase 3, face-to-face interviews were conducted with women with HIV to establish the feasibility of oral administration of instruments measuring all model variables, identify any problems with clarity and comprehension of the instruments, and determine participant burden given the multiple measures. Participants in this study phase were 13 culturally diverse (69% African-American), low income (77% less than $10,000 annual income) women who were living with HIV/AIDS (M age=42). About half (46%) had not completed high school. With suggested changes incorporated at each phase, participants in all phases reported that the social role items were meaningful, questionnaire instructions and items were understandable, and that responding to the questionnaires was not tiresome. Results suggest that there is preliminary evidence that instruments and methods are culturally relevant and sensitive for use in Latina women, and low income, low literacy African American and White women living with chronic illness.
Session #1179 - Community Health
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)