Health Is Power, and Health Is Wealth: Understanding the Motivators and Barriers of African American/Black Male Immigrants With Gastrointestinal Conditions.

Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101287723 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1557-9891 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 15579883 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am J Mens Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage Publications, Inc., 2007-

Black People*/psychology ; Black People*/statistics & numerical data ; Emigrants and Immigrants*/psychology ; Emigrants and Immigrants*/statistics & numerical data ; Health Behavior*/ethnology ; Attitude to Health*/ethnology ; Gastrointestinal Diseases*/epidemiology ; Gastrointestinal Diseases*/ethnology ; Gastrointestinal Diseases*/psychology ; Gastrointestinal Diseases*/therapy; Humans ; Male ; Black or African American/psychology ; Black or African American/statistics & numerical data ; Focus Groups ; United States/epidemiology ; Motivation ; Cities

The digestive health of African American/Black male immigrants in the United States has not been previously studied. Much of what is known about gastrointestinal (GI) concerns in this population is based on studies conducted on the overall Black American population. The purpose of this narrative study was to understand how African American/Black male immigrants with GI concerns navigated their GI condition. Fifteen African American/Black male immigrants from various cities in the United States participated in two remote focus groups to discover what motivates them to take control of their illness. Narrative analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. Most men, 47% ( n = 7), did not have health insurance, and 67% ( n = 10) reported their income was less than US$52,000. The themes identified were: (1) lack of knowledge of GI, (2) denial of initial diagnosis, (3) self-discipline, (4) positive provider interactions, (5) health as a priority, and (6) advice to other African American/Black male immigrants experiencing GI. A strengths-based approach is necessary for describing the health-seeking behaviors among African American/Black male immigrants.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Keywords: African American/Black male immigrants; gastrointestinal concerns; health-seeking behaviors; strengths approach

Date Created: 20240205 Date Completed: 20240206 Latest Revision: 20240302

20240303

PMC10846062

10.1177/15579883241227333

38311894