Factors Influencing Transitional Care Seeking Behaviors of African Americans Living with Sickle Cell
Date of Conferral
2023
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Public Health
Advisor
W. Sumner Davis
Abstract
Sickle cell (SC) is an inherited blood disorder that affects millions globally and approximately 100,000 people in the United States. SC causes excruciating pain and organ damage. This qualitative study was conducted to examine the factors influencing the decision-making process of African American diagnosed with SC regarding maintaining continuity of care. This qualitative study was conducted to understand how perceived susceptibility and severity, perceived benefits versus barriers, sense of threats, cues of action, and self-efficacy influence the transitional care-seeking behaviors of African Americans diagnosed with SC in the rural Mississippi Delta. The health belief model was the theoretical framework used to underpin this study with a phenomenological research design. Data were collected through semi structured interviews with 15 participants, who were between ages 18 and 61, diagnosed with SC, and who resided in the rural Mississippi Delta. The themes emerged from the data was the majority of the participants kept all medical appointment, traveled long distance to receive specialty healthcare, missed appointments, and etc. Microsoft Excell Spreadsheet was used as the coding technique to code and analyze the data collected. The study findings confirm that additional research is needed to understand better the lived experiences of African American adults with SC, the need for specialty healthcare providers to meet the unmet medical needs of this population. The findings from this study have potential implications for positive social change that include helping the medical community better understand the barriers associated with this phenomenon, which may help improve the QOL for this population.
Recommended Citation
Washington, Evelyn Carol Ellis, "Factors Influencing Transitional Care Seeking Behaviors of African Americans Living with Sickle Cell" (2023). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 14927.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/14927
