Old Enough to Know: The Impact of Health Values on Self-Care Among Elderly Black Men and Women (Report‪)‬

Introduction This article presents a comparative analysis of elderly Black women's and men's decisions to use self-care. Self-care is defined as activities "performed by the individual ... to achieve, maintain, or promote maximum health" (Bakken Henry and Holzemer, 1997, NS34). The research evolves from the premise that healthcare attitudes and trends are shaped by our health values, which are defined as our desirability for certain health conditions (Tsevat, et al. 1996). Given the rapidly graying population of the United States, the care of senior citizens is becoming an increasingly important social issue. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the over-65-years-old population increased elevenfold between 1900 and 2000, compared to a threefold increase in the nonelderly population (Hobbs, 2001). Gerontologists believe that the "new-old demographic," that is, members of the population who will enter the older Americans cohort in the next few decades, will inject changing value systems into healthcare decision making (Binstock, Janigen, and Post, 1994). Increasingly, these value systems can be equated to a "new health morality" that demands that we all take personal responsibility for our health (Conrad, 2005; Hacker, 2008).