Date of Conferral

5-10-2024

Date of Award

May 2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Magdeline Aagard

Abstract

Many U.S. working women lack access to routine preventive health screenings due to their 40-hr workweek, problems with transportation, and lack of workplace flexibility as clinic hours often coincide with their work schedules. Research is currently limited on how mobile health clinics (MHC) may enhance access to preventive health screenings for working women. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how working women experienced access to preventive health screenings through MHCs. The socioecological model served as the conceptual framework. The study population was working women over 21 years of age who were not homemakers, who worked 30 or more hr outside the home, and who had used MHCs within the last 36 months for preventive health screenings. The data analysis process consisted of using five a priori codes and 30 open codes to assess the interview transcripts. The a priori and open codes were categorized and subcategorized; these facilitated the identification of five themes: (a) MHCs offer informative, fast, and accessible access to care for working women; (b) work hours conflict with access to health care for working women; (c) childcare and transportation reduce barriers to access to care for working women; (d) working women obtain access to preventive health screenings through word of mouth; and (e) MHCs provide working women with access to preventive health screenings. A key conclusion is that MHCs can help to close the health equity gap for working women by providing access to preventive health screenings. This study may effect positive social change by developing policies to improve working women’s access to preventive screenings to increase early detection of breast and cervical cancer.

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