Investigation of place and social support in chronic disease self-management techniques

Recent studies have begun to highlight the importance of using geonarrative analysis methods in health research.  Incorporating quantitative Geographic Information Systems (GIS) methods with narrative components such as oral histories and qualitative interviews provide in-depth findings about the health and well-being of individuals and populations.  The present study investigated the relationship between place and social support in the chronic disease self-management techniques of 14 women (M = 65.36, age range = 42-86 years, SD= 11.41) in Urbana, Illinois.  Semi-structured, mixed-method interviews were conducted to investigate social support appraisals and self-management strategies.  GIS mapping was used to obtain spatial data and land features of the participants’ neighborhoods as well as describe the local context in which the individuals’ lived.  NVivo was used to analyze qualitative portions of the interviews.  We hypothesize that women who report higher appraisals of their social support network will also report utilizing multiple self-management techniques.  Additionally, we also hypothesize that participants who report higher appraisals of social support networks will report greater use of local land features (walking trails, etc.) Preliminary findings show that overall, participants reported seeing or hearing from M= 3.287 relatives at least twice a month, and 71% reported trying exercise methods (such as walking in the neighborhood, riding bikes, etc.) as a self-management technique.  Individuals that reported a higher number of social networks were more likely to engage in using their local land space.