The Intersection of Childcare and Health Among Women at a U.S. Safety-Net Health System During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.
| Autor: | Jain S; HonorHealth Internal Medicine Residency, Phoenix, Arizona, USA., Higashi RT; The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA., Salmeron C; UTHealth School of Public Health, Houston, Texas, USA., Bhavan K; The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.; Parkland Health and Hospital System, Dallas, Texas, USA. |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | Health equity [Health Equity] 2024 Jan 12; Vol. 8 (1), pp. 32-38. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jan 12 (Print Publication: 2024). |
| DOI: | 10.1089/heq.2023.0068 |
| Abstrakt: | Introduction: Lack of childcare has been linked to missed health care appointments for adult women, especially for lower-income women. The COVID-19 pandemic created additional stressors for many low-income families that already struggled to meet childcare and health care needs. By exploring the experiences of women who were referred for childcare services at a U.S. safety-net health system, we aimed to understand the challenges women faced in managing their health and childcare needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews with participants in Dallas County, TX between August 2021 and February 2022. All participants were referred from women's health clinics at the county's safety-net hospital system to an on-site drop-off childcare center by hospital staff who identified lack of childcare as a barrier to health care access. Participants were the primary caregiver for at least one child ≤age 13. Interviews were conducted in English or Spanish. We analyzed data using thematic content analysis. Results: We interviewed 22 participants (mean age 34); participants were adult women, had on average 3 children, and primarily identified as Hispanic or African American. Three interrelated themes emerged: disruptions in access, competing priorities, and exacerbated psychological distress. Conclusions: Findings demonstrate how low-income women with young children in a safety-net health system struggle to address their own health needs amid childcare and other household demands. Our study advances our understanding of childcare as a social domain of health, a necessary step to inform how we build structural support systems and drive policy interventions. Competing Interests: No competing financial interests exist. (© Seema Jain et al., 2024; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.) |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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