Personal accounts of the role of God in health and illness among older rural African American and White residents

This paper addresses how older rural residents viewthe relationship between God and both health andillness. We employed semi-structured interviews andqualitative analytical strategies with 15 AfricanAmericans residing in predominantly African Americancommunities and 13 Whites living in nearbypredominantly White communities, in order to identifysimilarities and differences in views about a divineother's roles in health and illness. African Americanswere more likely than Whites to describe theirreligious lives in personal terms, in ways suggestingthere is a set of religious truths that do not requirefurther investigation or analysis, and in a mannerindicating that religious belief permeated theirlives. They were also more likely to describe specificrole expectations for God in health and illness. Theresults point to the substantial cultural diversitythat exists in small rural areas, and to the need forhealth care workers to be sensitive to thehealth-related religious beliefs of patients.