A qualitative study of hardiness and social support among underserved, inner-city minority adults recovering from oral surgery.

Abstract Using qualitative data, this study examines hardiness and social support among twenty-two African American and Hispanic subjects, at least 18 years of age, who received treatment for a jaw fracture and participated in an hour-long focus group to discuss the treatment they received at King/Drew Medical Center, an inner-city hospital in Los Angeles, California. Treatment was either a non-surgical wiring of the teeth closed for six to eight weeks or surgical placement of a metal bone plate in the lower jaw with a short period of jaw fixation following surgery. A mandibular fracture is one of the most common orofacial traumas for minority individuals, and the majority of these fractures among patients at urban trauma centers are a result of interpersonal violence. Thus the link between psychosocial stress and oral health is evident, yet exposure to daily stress does not automatically place one at risk for distress. Some people under daily stress have hardiness, conceptualized as an internal personal ...