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Health Promotion Practice
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Out of the Mainstream: Low-Income, Lone Mothers’ Life Experiences and Perspectives on Heart Health

Joan Wharf Higgins, PhD

School of Physical Education, University of Victoria in British Columbia

Lynne Young, RN, PhD

University of Victoria, School of Nursing, Lower Mainland Campus in British Columbia

Susanna Cunningham, BSN, PhD

Biobehavioral and Nursing Health Systems Department at the University of Washington, School of Nursing in Seattle, Washington

Patti-Jean Naylor, PhD

School of Physical Education, University of Victoria; Canadian Institute of Health Research in Victoria, British Columbia

Cardiovascular disease remains a health issue in North America, particularly for marginalized citizens. Although lifestyle issues and behavioral risk reduction continue to dominate prevention initiatives, an emerging literature suggests that contextual factors such as poverty and social exclusion also influence health. Using group and personal interviews (N = 38), this research explored the social and economic contexts shaping heart health-related experiences from the perspectives of low-income, lone mothers. The transcripts were analyzed using McKinlay and Marceau's upstream-midstream-downstream framework. The overriding pattern characterizing lone mothers’ discussions was that the women felt out of the mainstream of everyday life. They lacked the resources and power to effect change, particularly regarding heart health behaviors that were not perceived to be a priority compared to more pressing survival issues. Results are discussed in terms of concepts from the population health and social determinants literature, concluding with policy implications for enhancing health while living in poverty.

Key Words: cardiovascular disease • lone mothers • poverty • social determinants • health

Health Promotion Practice, Vol. 7, No. 2, 221-233 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1524839905278883
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