Predictors of health-promoting behavior of African-American and white caregivers of impaired elders.
Several longitudinal studies have examined declines in health of caregivers, but few have explored the health-promoting behavior Because caregivers neglect their health, they are at risk for developing a number of physical and psychological problems. What is not well known are the factors that contribute to increased health-promoting behavior ultimately preventing poor health and premature death. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the predictors and the change in predictors of health-promoting behavior in African-American and White caregivers over a 3-year period. Pender, Murdaugh, and Parsons' (2002) health promotion model guided the study. This present study is a secondary data analysis of a larger study aimed at examining predictors of health-promoting behavior among 66 African-American (n=66) and 110 (n=110) and White caregivers of impaired older adults recruited primarily through random digit dialing. The larger data set consisted of 391 (N=391) subjects (n=136 African-American; n=255 White). The larger prospective study was based on face-to-face interviews. In the original study, trained interviewers collected data on depression, psychological distress, self-perceived health, religiosity, number of chronic conditions, and demographic characteristics using well-established instruments. Data in this present study were collected at three time points over a three-year period with one-year intervals at Time1 (T1), Time2 (T2), and Time3 (T3). Analysis of the data in this present study suggested that, although, the number of health-promoting behaviors significantly differed for African-American and White caregivers at T1, T2, and T3, no predictors were significantly associated with a change in health-promoting behavior over time. Nonetheless, this finding suggests that nurses can develop useful information in helping to focus more attention on the health of caregivers in the future.
McDonald
Patricia E
PE
Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4904, USA. pxm9@po.cwru.edu
Wykle
May L
ML
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D017028:Caregivers; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014481:United States; D044465:White People