Author : Karen W. Burkett
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 329 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (896 download)
Book Synopsis Culture Care Meanings, Expressions, and Cultural Lifeways of Urban African American Family Members Caring for Their Child with Autism by : Karen W. Burkett
Download or read book Culture Care Meanings, Expressions, and Cultural Lifeways of Urban African American Family Members Caring for Their Child with Autism written by Karen W. Burkett and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Delays in the diagnosis and misdiagnosis of African American children with autism represent a health care disparity in the United States, resulting in preventable delays in treatments that improve outcomes. Autism research suggests there are cultural factors that have led to these disparities. Understanding the cultural influencers necessitates an examination of the family, since the embodiment of culture and care is the family group. Outside the dominant culture, there are significant research gaps for understanding family care of the child with autism. One way to bridge the gap of these disparities is to discover from African American family members their care meanings, expressions and practices in the cultural care of their child with autism. An ethnonursing qualitative study, underpinned by the theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality, was conducted to discover, describe and systematically analyze meanings of care and cultural ways of living among African American family members caring for their child with autism. Interviews and field observations were conducted within the natural environments of eight African American families, for a total of 24 family members, who care for their child with autism, aged 3 to 8 years old. Twenty eight general health and educational care participants were interviewed for an etic perspective of the phenomenon. The qualitative data were analyzed using Leininger's phases of ethnonursing analysis. Four universal themes, one diverse theme and one additional finding emerged from the data. For urban African American family members caring for their child with autism, the major universal culture care themes were: protection of others (child); faith in God and family; respect for and from others; and taking action for their child. A diverse theme of differences in responsible care and dependence on family was found among single and dual parent families. An additional finding of cultural pain was important to the study. Nurses and other autism professionals may be more likely to provide culturally congruent care when taking into account the findings of this study.