Journal article
A "DisJOINTed" Relationship: Older African Americans' Osteoarthritis Pain Management Experiences with Healthcare Providers
Research on aging
07/22/2026
DOI: 10.1177/01640275261467445
PMID: 42483799
Abstract
Managing debilitating chronic pain due to osteoarthritis often presents significant challenges for historically marginalized populations such as African American older adults. This qualitative analysis examined older African Americans’ (N = 18) encounters with healthcare providers when seeking chronic pain treatment for osteoarthritis. A conventional thematic analysis identified five major themes: (1) Seeking treatment is a nuanced balance of overcoming personal delays to receive professional help and decision support, (2) Experiencing mistreatment diminishes faith in providers and increases faith in a higher power, (3) Advocating for informed care is a necessary challenge, (4) Receiving limited treatment options results in disjointed care and culturally informed self-care, and (5) Experiencing “good” care is rare but appreciated. The quality of patient-provider relationships varied considerably and resulted in disjointed care. These results illuminate the 21st century experiences of navigating a complex and biased healthcare system and emphasize opportunities for providers to increase advocacy and empathy.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- A "DisJOINTed" Relationship: Older African Americans' Osteoarthritis Pain Management Experiences with Healthcare Providers
- Creators
- Staja Q Booker - University of FloridaKeela A Herr - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Research on aging
- DOI
- 10.1177/01640275261467445
- PMID
- 42483799
- NLM abbreviation
- Res Aging
- ISSN
- 1552-7573
- eISSN
- 1552-7573
- Publisher
- Mary Ann Liebert
- Grant note
- National Hartford Center for Gerontological Nursing Excellence National Institute of Nursing Research: T32NR011147-06A1 MAYDAY Fund
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was made possible with support from the National Hartford Center for Gerontological Nursing Excellence (Student PI: Booker), The Mayday Fund (Student PI: Booker), and the National Institute of Nursing Research (T32NR011147-06A1; MPIs: Herr and McCarthy, Predoctoral Fellow: Booker).
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 07/22/2026
- Academic Unit
- Nursing
- Record Identifier
- 9985213679302771
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