title: Exploring community health through the Sustainable Livelihoods framework.
abstract: Health disparities are a major concern in the United States. Research suggests that inequitable distribution of money, power, and resources shape the circumstances for daily life and create and exacerbate health disparities. In rural communities, inequitable distribution of these structural factors seems to limit employment opportunities. The Sustainable Livelihoods framework, an economic development model, provides a conceptual framework to understand how distribution of these social, economic, and political structural factors affect employment opportunities and community health in rural America. This study uses photo-elicitation interviews, a qualitative, participatory method, to understand community members' perceptions of how distribution of structural factors through creation and maintenance of institutional practices and policies influence employment opportunities and, ultimately, community health for African Americans living in rural Missouri.
authors.affiliation: Saint Louis University, MO, USA. barnidge@slu.edu
authors.forename: Ellen K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Barnidge
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Freda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Motton
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rose
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D057217:Economic Development; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008923:Missouri; D010465:Perception; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012423:Rural Health; D014481:United States