TY - JOUR
T1 - Using ecological models in research on health disparities
AU - Reifsnider, Elizabeth
AU - Gallagher, Martina
AU - Forgione, Bunny
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by NIH/NINR 5R29NR4882 (first author), an NIH/NINR National Research Service Award Predoctoral Fellowship (second author), and a Texas Department of Health Innovation Grant (first author).
PY - 2005/7
Y1 - 2005/7
N2 - Ecological models of human interaction can be used to study complex community problems that affect health disparities. These models allow researchers to study the components of a problem and understand how the problem can be ameliorated with nursing interventions. This article describes four research studies in which ecological models were used to either understand a phenomenon or design and test an intervention. The methods used were ethnography, descriptive/correlational, and quasi-experimental. All subjects were low-income women and children, largely of Hispanic ethnicity, residing in South Texas. The ecological models were derived from Bronfenbrenner's ecology of human development theory, epidemiology, Rubin's theory of developmental tasks of pregnancy, and Barnard's model of mother-child interaction. Heuristic models that represent reality allow researchers to divide a complex problem, such as health disparities, into manageable components. The influence of families, neighborhoods, and communities can be considered without losing sight of individuals.
AB - Ecological models of human interaction can be used to study complex community problems that affect health disparities. These models allow researchers to study the components of a problem and understand how the problem can be ameliorated with nursing interventions. This article describes four research studies in which ecological models were used to either understand a phenomenon or design and test an intervention. The methods used were ethnography, descriptive/correlational, and quasi-experimental. All subjects were low-income women and children, largely of Hispanic ethnicity, residing in South Texas. The ecological models were derived from Bronfenbrenner's ecology of human development theory, epidemiology, Rubin's theory of developmental tasks of pregnancy, and Barnard's model of mother-child interaction. Heuristic models that represent reality allow researchers to divide a complex problem, such as health disparities, into manageable components. The influence of families, neighborhoods, and communities can be considered without losing sight of individuals.
KW - Ecological models
KW - Health disparities
KW - Nursing research
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U2 - 10.1016/j.profnurs.2005.05.006
DO - 10.1016/j.profnurs.2005.05.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 16061168
AN - SCOPUS:23144458111
SN - 8755-7223
VL - 21
SP - 216
EP - 222
JO - Journal of Professional Nursing
JF - Journal of Professional Nursing
IS - 4
ER -