Redefining sickle cell anemia in African American communities.

Abstract

Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects lout of 600 African American individuals at birth. More than 50,000 African Americans have it today. It is a genetic disorder that affects an individual's hemoglobin and has deleterious effects on an individual's life (Steinberg 1999). Many studies have been done to see the medical effects of sickle cell anemia yet it is interesting to unpack the disease and its relevance within a particular population. The primary objective of this analysis is the study of African-American mothers of children with sickle cell disease and the ways in which they react to the diagnosis and manage healthcare of their children. The mothers in the study are the primary caregivers for their children and they are active participants, creators, and definers of the social world in which they live. The meanings they construct and assign to the sickle cell disease experience develop from their own values, resources and life experience and thus differ from the meanings medical experts assign to the disease.