Holly F. Mathews

Coming to terms with advanced breast cancer: black women's narratives from eastern North Carolina.

This paper analyzes in-depth interviews with 26 black women who entered the medical system in rural North Carolina with advanced breast disease. In these narratives, women draw on multiple sources of knowledge in order to come to terms with the diagnosis of breast cancer--a biomedically-defined disease that they often refuse to acknowledge or accept. The analysis demonstrates how women relate the meaning of their individual episodes of illness to one or more of the following sources of knowledge: an indigenous model of health emphasizing balance in the blood, popular American notions about cancer, and particular biomedical conceptions about breast disease and its treatment. These narratives provide an important window into the processes involved when individuals attempt to adapt personal experience to pre-existing cultural models, modify such models in the light of new information, and confront conflicts in their own interpretations of the meaning of a single episode of illness.

A Multidimensional Examination of Depression among the Elderly

Data from 868 eastern North Carolina elders are used to examine the effects of variables hypothesized to moderate the impact of life strain on depression. Principal components factor analysis is used to categorize depression into subdimensions of life satisfaction, withdrawal, and general depressive affect. Although independent variables such as instrumental activities of daily living limitations as an indicator of life strain are found to affect the subdimensions, differences pertaining only to certain subdimensions of depression are found. The findings support the importance of subdimensions of depression and suggest variability among subpopulations within a primarily nonurban sample.

Family interactions among African American prostate cancer survivors.

Prostate cancer affects African Americans at a higher rate than any other ethnic group in the United States. Prostate cancer does not only affect the man with the disease but also affects those individuals who are closest to him, such as his family and friends. Open communication is valuable in coping with stressors that are affiliated with chronic illnesses. This article focuses on family and friend social support of men with prostate cancer. Data analysis revealed that support from family members and friends plays an important role in how men cope with their treatment and recovery from prostate cancer.

Health and Community-Based Service Use Differences between Elderly African Americans and Whites

Responses from personal interviews with a random sample of 2,178 adults aged 60 years and older living in their homes in eastern North Carolina were used to examine the effects of predisposing, enabling, and need indicators on differences in the use of health and community-based services separately for African American and White elders. Health services include primary care visits and visits to specialists. Community-based services were categorized into personal care services and financial assistance. Logistic regression analyses were done in an attempt to explain why African American elders are more likely than are Whites to use both kinds of community-based services, are less likely than are Whites to use specialty care, and whether there are differences by race in the use of primary care physicians. Results indicate that the odds of using financial assistance and medical care vary by race according to selected predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics. There is little difference by race, however, in the use of financial assistance services. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Difference by Race in Long-Term Care Plans

The underrepresentation of African American elders in institutional care is attributed to their greater desire for family care compared to Whites. Data from in-home interviews with 604 African Americans and Whites aged 65 and older are used to explore whether differences by race in long-term care plans substantiate this claim. Contrary to expectations, African American elders were more likely than Whites to have made long-term care plans and to include institutional as well as family care in their plans. Multivariate findings were that African American elders with more education were more likely than others to have made long-term care plans and educational attainment predicted plans for institutional care. Findings suggest that long-term care decision making is likely idiosyncratic rather than the result of careful consideration of care options in light of impending long-term care needs.

Returning to Earth: Setting a Global Agenda for the Anthropology of Cancer.

Last year, Vice President Biden said that with a new moonshot, America can cure cancer. Last month, he worked with this Congress to give scientists at the National Institutes of Health the strongest resources that they’ve had in over a decade. (Applause.) So tonight, I’m announcing a new national effort to get it done. And because he’s gone to the mat for all of us on so many issues over the past 40 years, I’m putting Joe in charge of Mission Control. (Applause.) For the loved ones we’ve all lost, for the families that we can still save, let’s make America the country that cures cancer once and for all. (Applause.) President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address, January 12, 2016

Does Pregnancy Increase Use and Awareness of Nutrition Information in Food Labels

Objectives This study aims to examine food label use, specific reading behaviors and the awareness of dietary recommendations among U.S. pregnant women in comparison to non-pregnant women. Methods A cross-sectional data analysis was conducted using a representative national sample of U.S. women aged 16 to 44 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005–2006 (n = 1875). Food label users were defined as woman who used the Nutrition Facts panel when making a food choice in the frequency of always, most of the time, or sometimes. Pregnancy status was assessed in relation to food label use, specific reading behaviors and the awareness of dietary recommendations by conducting hierarchical multivariable logistic regression models including covariates of SES and perceived health and weight variables. Results The prevalence of using food labels at purchase greatly differs by SES, perceived health and weight variables, and awareness of dietary recommendations but not by pregnancy: 68.6% of pregnant and 66.1% of non-pregnant women used food labels in the U.S. However, after controlling for SES and perceived health and weight status, pregnant women are more likely to read food labels than their counterparts (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.07–1.89). Pregnant women were less likely to check cholesterol (OR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.44–0.77) and calories from fat content (OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.42–0.89), after adjusting for SES variables. Pregnant women may not have a higher awareness of dietary recommendations compared to non-pregnant women in the U.S. Conclusions While pregnancy itself is a factor that appears to encourage the reading of food labels, pregnancy does not encourage positive reading behaviors. The findings suggest a great need for prenatal nutrition education programs in the U.S.

Perceptions of Older Adults: Differences by Age and Sex among Children in a Costa Rican Community

Responses from 120 Afro-Caribbean children living in a rural Costa Rican community are used to identify two subdimensions of an index designed to measure childrens perceptions of older adults. Sketches of an adult male and female at three ages are used to infer differences in subdimensions in childrens perceptions by age and sex. It was found that older females are perceived by the children as more authoritative and older adult males as more affective. Ethnographic techniques are used together with the survey results to elaborate upon the findings and discuss their implications for a general modernization thesis of intergenerational relationships.