Influences of Transportation on Health Decision-Making and Self-Management Behaviors among Older Adults with Chronic Conditions |
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| Authors: | Nicole Ruggiano Natalia Shtompel Karen Whiteman Kathy Sias |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Social Work, The University of Alabama;2. School of Social Work, Florida International University;3. Dartmouth Centers for Health and Aging, and (formerly) School of Social Work, Florida Atlantic University |
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| Abstract: | Although transportation has been established as a facilitator/barrier to health self-management, little is known about how the context of transportation shapes health self-management behaviors and decision-making among older adults with chronic conditions. This study interviewed 37 older adults with chronic conditions in Florida to examine their perspectives about how transportation influences their chronic care self-management. The data were systematically analyzed for themes. The thematic findings revealed how transportation intersected with participants' everyday experiences with chronic health self-management, how they evaluated transportation as part of the process of making decisions about health, and how creative problem-solving about transportation became an additional health self-management activity for addressing their complex needs. These findings suggest that the context of transportation goes beyond a basic facilitator/barrier for health and enhance our understanding about how transportation services and policies may be changed to better address the needs of older adults with chronic conditions. |
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| Keywords: | chronic illness health behaviors health self-management older adults social factors |
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