A Qualitative Exploration of Health Beliefs Among Midlife Filipino American Women in California

Research pertaining to Filipino American health issues is growing but most remain delimited to children, college students, and older adults. The purpose of this study was two-fold. The first was to define the health beliefs of four Filipino American women who were in midlife through in-depth one-on-one interviews regarding cardiovascular diseases and in utilizing health care to prevent, diagnose, or treat those diseases. The second purpose was to conceptualize potential links between the health beliefs of those Filipino American women and their attitudes or choices about health care utilization. Conclusively, the health beliefs of the four midlife Filipino-American women in this study were firmly established in their self-efficacy in recognizing their risks of cardiovascular disease and in making the best choices to decrease their risk of developing one. In contrast to the assumptions of this study, I found that these women a) were very aware of the resources available to them when they had health issues and b) their health beliefs regarding cardiovascular diseases did not hinder utilization of the health care services to which they had access. In fact, they were more receptive to utilizing health care resources to garner a medical perspective as long as they gained a clearer understanding of the health issue and that the treatment options were as natural as possible.

Name thesis:degree_name

MS in Kinesiology

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Kinesiology

Year dc:date.available

2008

Author dc:creator

• Merana, Lorneneth

Contributors dc:contributor

• Camille O'Bryant

Identifier

10.15368/theses.2008.3

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1004