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Dr.
Judy Kaye, PI
A number of barriers to positive health outcomes exist for
low-income rural adults. These include: poverty,
inadequate housing and transportation systems, high incidence
of chronic illness and poorer health, and a lack of available
health services. Resources, both internal and external,
are necessary to overcome these barriers. The purpose of
this cross-sectional descriptive study is to examine internal
(spirituality, hope, sense of coherence) and external (social
support) resources as predictors of health behaviors and
health outcomes in a low-income rural adult population in the
Southeastern US. Health behaviors include dietary
habits, exercise, smoking, alcohol and drug use, health
services use, and preventive screening examinations.
Health outcomes include physical functioning, depression, and
quality of life. All of these concepts will be examined
within the context of the theoretical model: Predictors
of Health Behaviors and Health Outcomes in Rural Adults. Three major concepts: spirituality, and social support
are theorized to be antecedent or predictors of health
behaviors and health outcomes. Research questions are as
follows: (1) What are the levels of internal and external
resources, health behaviors and health outcomes in a sample of
low-income rural adults? (2) Are there significant differences
in health behaviors and health outcomes by race, gender, and
educational level? (3). What internal and external resources
and health behaviors are significant predictors of health
outcomes in low-income rural adults? A cross-sectional
sample of 200 randomly selected adults from a total of eight
counties in South Carolina and Georgia will be telephone
surveyed. In addition to a demographic survey, six
instruments will be administered: Spiritual Perspective Scale;
Sense of Coherence Scale; Moss Social Support Scale;
Functional Status Questionnaire Jette; Center for
Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and Cantril’s Ladder
to measure quality of life. Statistical analysis will
include descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and
regression analysis.
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