Health Behavior Decision-making in African-American Adults Diagnosed with Schizophrenia

Abstract

Little is known about the factors that influence health behavior decision-making among people with schizophrenia. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the processes used by 10 African-American adults with schizophrenia when making health behavior decisions and identification of perceived barriers and facilitators to health. Three phases of health behavior decision-making were identified: Recognizing Complex Components of Health, Personalizing Components of Health, and Tracking Health Status. Findings may guide clinicians’ efforts to improve the health status of patients, as well as influence future research in understanding health behavior decision-making among vulnerable populations.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was self-funded. Many thanks to each co-author for manuscript contributions and revisions and to Jennifer Hatcher for the expertise in the area of African-American health disparities. None of the data from this paper have been previously published elsewhere except in the presentation of the dissertation in August, 2012.

Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.