Black Mothers Living With HIV Picture the Social Determinants of Health.
Courtney Caiola, Julie Barroso, Sharron L Docherty
PMID 29273460WHAT IT FOUND
Black mothers living with HIV identified social support, religion, pets, nature, transport, and housing as key determinants of their health.
They photographed mostly positive strengths rather than deficits. Transportation reliability and housing stability were critical for accessing care and maintaining health.
Key findings
01Participants primarily photographed positive health determinants, including social support, religion, animal companions, and the physical environment, while identifying transportation and housing as having mixed positive and negative impacts.
02Transportation was a critical determinant; participants valued private vehicles for reliability in accessing appointments but cited financial stress and public transport unreliability as barriers to care.
03Housing stability was viewed as fundamental to health, with participants noting that homelessness or unsafe housing directly compromised access to water, food, and medication management.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Selection bias: Most participants were recruited from infectious disease clinics, so they were already engaged in care. This may exclude the experiences of those who have fallen out of care. Small sample size: Only 18 participants, with 16 completing the photo component. Power dynamics: The research team was White and the participants were Black women, which may have influenced participants to present their lives in a more positive light to avoid reinforcing stereotypes. Photo bias: Participants may have taken more 'happy snaps' due to social conventions of photography, potentially underrepresenting negative experiences.
Declared interests
The authors report no real or perceived vested interests related to this study. The work was supported by NIH grants.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high number of positive photographs as evidence that these women faced fewer hardships. The authors suggest this may reflect a desire to present strengths to White researchers or a social convention of photography, rather than an absence of negative determinants.