Individual Healthcare and Socially Constructed Identities: Cases of Women Suffering from Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs)

Study aims at examining socio-cultural factors in the form of personal perception of the respondents towards Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) and the resultant impact of this perception on the CVDs management regimen of the respondents. Social construction of illness is used to investigate these factors. Entire data were collected at Superspeciality Hospital, Jammu (India) and 41 personal interviews were conducted. Field research also consisted of observations which was done by employing purposive sampling method. Results demonstrate that factors like inability to carry out household chores, financial constraints, lethargy etc. have a bearing on the care seeking behavior of the respondents. Women constantly juggle between maintaining family equilibrium and maintaining their health. Socially constructed image of a healthy woman is somewhat difficult to achieve even if technologies of the self and anatomo-politics come into play because gendered nature of healthcare in India makes it difficult for these women to prioritize their health needs.