title: Working hard: women's self-care practices in Ghana.
abstract: Women's health care providers have noted an increased infant mortality rate among Ghanaian immigrants. We conducted focus groups with 17 women in Ghana. We asked them how they maintained their health both before and during pregnancy. When discussing their health, women repeatedly described the conditions or context of their daily lives and the traditional practices that they used to stay healthy. Knowledge of women's lives, the health care system that they previously used, and their cultural practices can be utilized by health care providers to more fully assess their patients and design more culturally appropriate care for this group of women.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Nursing, University of Massachusetts Worcester, Worcester, MA 01605, USA. rosemary.theroux@gmail.com
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Theroux
authors.forename: Robin Toft
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Klar
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Messenger
mesh_terms: D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005869:Ghana; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality / Q000208:ethnology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008019:Life Style; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000208:ethnology*; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods*; D012931:Social Environment; D014505:Urban Population