This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Wheatley, R. R. Articles by Delgado, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wheatley, R. R. Articles by Delgado, J. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Choosing a Doctor or Health Care Service Family Issues Health Literacy Prenatal Care Talking With Your Doctor Women's Health Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Women's Narratives on Quality in Prenatal Care: A Multicultural Perspective

University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Michele A. Kelley

University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Nadine Peacock

University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Jaime Delgado

Public Health Consultant, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Although significant progress has been made to increase prenatal care access, national organizations concerned with health equity emphasize that eliminating disparities will require greater attention to quality of care, assessed from both the biomedical and patient perspectives. In this study, we examined narratives about pregnancy experiences from low-income primiparous African American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and White women who participated in focus groups conducted in 1996. We reanalyzed transcripts from these discussions, extracting passages in which women talked about the content and quality of their prenatal care experiences. Data were mapped to four domains reflecting patient-centeredness markers identified in the 2005 U.S. National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR). These markers include the extent to which the women perceived that their provider listened carefully, explained things, showed respect, and spent enough time with them. The narratives provided by the study participants suggest a critical and intuitive understanding of the NHDR patient-centeredness markers and some shared understanding across cultural groups. Implications for improving quality and its measurement in prenatal care are discussed.

Key Words: communication • doctor—patient • culture • focus groups • health care • users' experiences • midwifery • minorities • pregnancy • qualitative methods • general • women's health

Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 18, No. 11, 1586-1598 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1049732308324986


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?