Date of Award

1990

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

First Advisor

Susan A. Myers

Second Advisor

Bertha Ballard

Third Advisor

Mark Whitlock

Abstract

The north side of St. Louis was chosen by the author for many reasons. Perhaps the most important reason is the many stressors within the black community which attribute to health problems such as hypertension. Not only is hypertension more prevalent in blacks than whites, but it is also more severe (Butcher & Allen, Dec. 1989). The vital statistics indicate that the mortality risk in black patients with hypertension is approximately two to six times more than in whites.

Some other reasons for its selection are: This community, according to the Sixth District Police Department (Personal Communication, Jan., 1989), is a drug and crime infested community. Young pregnant mothers with no prenatal care are producing crack and cocaine babies. Last but not least this is the community the author grew up in over 20 years ago, a close-knit group of blacks living in this one section of St. Louis northside, Walnut Park, who shared a common historical, ethnic and cultural background. This project afforded the author to go back and study a new breed of this black community in greater depth and gain additional knowledge as it related to the stress effects relating to hypertension.

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