Using a Culture-Centered Approach to Explore the Potential Impacts of Guaranteed Income on Black Women’s Health in San Diego

In collaboration with the San Diego State University Sage Project, undergraduate student researchers contributed to the Black Women’s Resilience Project (BWRP) by conducting a qualitative research study in their Politics of Health Communication course (COMM 422). The goal of this study was to identify the connections between the guaranteed income (GI) initiative and health among Black community members in San Diego, addressing community perceptions about the benefits and barriers of accessing subsidized programs. The interview protocol was created to highlight the three key components of the Culture-Centered Approach (CCA) to health communication: culture, structure, and agency, which are used to explain the contributors of structural and health inequities among marginalized communities. Students interviewed key informants and community members who shared their personal experiences and perspectives to identify what changes may need to be made to increase awareness and utilization of GI. Using qualitative data analysis methods, the key findings revealed four stigmas and challenges associated with using cash assistance and having intersecting identities, including racial, socioeconomic, and gender backgrounds. First, communal perceptions of cash assistance depicted recipients being viewed as irresponsible or incapable of providing for themselves and their families. Second, social pressures for Black men and women may deter them from seeking assistance from subsidized programs in order to preserve their image as breadwinners, caretakers, and independent earners. Third, participants viewed subsidized programs as a “systemic trap,” often facing tensions to stay below limited income expectations in order to begin or maintain eligibility as a recipient of aid. Fourth, participants shared the inconvenient, discouraging, and intrusive nature of the application process, leaving questions about whether the time committed to completion would be worth their efforts and energy. Based on the themes identified in the findings, this report offers three recommendations that contribute to improving and expanding community engagement. Participants recommended prioritizing face-to-face communication with community members at places for gathering, increasing social media presence about the program, and the inclusion of testimonies from actual GI recipients in promotional materials.