A Qualitative Analysis of Personal Health Care Challenges Experienced by Iranian Divorcees

Divorce, nowadays an increasingly more prevalent life event in Iran, can create poor general health among Iranian women, possibly due to bigger challenges for health-related behaviors. The aim was to explore challenges to achieve health-related behaviors as experienced by divorced Iranian women acting as household-heads. An inductive exploratory design based on qualitative content analysis was utilized. Twenty strategically selected divorced women acting as household-heads in Tehran were interviewed between September 2019 and January 2020. The divorced women experienced individual-centered and social and environmental-centered challenges concerning their health-related behaviors. Lack of competence, lack of personal control, and lack of emotional support were described as individual-centered barriers. Lack of community-based support, lack of financial support, and lack of labor market support were described as social and environmental challenges to health-related behaviors. A wide range of individual, social, and environmental-centered factors hindered divorced women acting as household-heads to engage in health-related behaviors. Therefore, person-centered interventions are necessary alongside efforts to develop appropriate policies and amend protection laws to increase the welfare and health of divorced women acting as household-heads.