Precarity and health: Theorizing the intersection of multiple material-need insecurities, stigma, and illness among women in the United States

Publication date: Available online 16 November 2019Source: Social Science & MedicineAuthor(s): Henry J. Whittle, Anna M. Leddy, Jacqueline Shieh, Phyllis C. Tien, Ighovwerha Ofotokun, Adaora A. Adimora, Janet M. Turan, Edward A. Frongillo, Bulent Turan, Sheri D. WeiserAbstractMaterial-need insecurities (including insecurities in basic resources such as income, food, housing, and healthcare) are widespread in the United States (US) and may be important predictors of poor health outcomes. How material-need insecurities besides food insecurity are experienced, however, remains under-researched, including how multiple material-need insecurities might intersect and converge on the individual. Here we used qualitative methods to investigate experiences with multiple material-need insecurities among 38 food-insecure women aged over 50 years living with or at risk for HIV in the US. Our aims were: (1) to understand the co-experience of material-need insecurities beyond food insecurity; (2) to elucidate how multiple material-need insecurities might intersect; and (3) to discover how this intersection might be detrimental to health. During November 2017–July 2018, we conducted semi-structured interviews at three sites across the US (Northern California, Georgia, North Carolina) and analyzed the data using an inductive-deductive approach. We identified a common and complex picture of multiple material-need insecurities, stigma, and illness among participants across all three sites. Th...
Source: Social Science and Medicine - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research