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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Lené Levy-Storms, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, UCLA Department of Medicine/Geriatrics, Associate Director, Borun Center, UCLA School of Medicine/Borun Center for Gerontological Research, 7150 Tampa Avenue, Jewish Home for the Aging, Reseda, CA 91335, (818) 774-3348, llstorms@ucla.edu and James E. Lubben, DSW, MPH, Professor of Social Welfare & Urban Planning, UCLA/School of Public Policy and Social Research, 3250 Public Policy Building, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656.
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether kin and non-kin aspects of social support networks positively associate with health among older Samoan women. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 290 Samoan women, 50 years or older, living in Los Angeles County. Health was measured generally as overall self-perceived health and specifically as self-reported health behaviors, physical health, and emotional health. Social support networks were measured using the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS). Using logistic regression, measures of health were regressed on kin and non-kin subscales of the LSNS. Among women 50-59 years old, higher scores on kin were protective against feeling depressed (odds ratio (OR)=.81; P<.05) and positively associated with never salting food (OR=1.19; P<.05), and with getting screened for diabetes in the past year (OR=1.30; P<.01). Among women 60+ years old, higher scores on kin increased the likelihood of having had a mammogram in the past two years (OR=1.36; P<.01), and higher scores on non-kin increased the likelihood of ever trying to lose weight (OR=1.48, P<.001) and ever having had a Pap smear (OR=1.25, P<.05). Among older Samoan women, kin and non-kin support networks positively affect health depending on the specific aspect of health and age cohort. Strategies to mobilize social support networks to positively affect emotional health and health behaviors should focus on kin support networks among younger age cohorts, but strategies to positively affect health behaviors should focus on both kin and non-kin among older age cohorts.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.