Living in a housing co-operative for low income women: issues of identity, environment and control.

The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of how living on a low income affects the health of women and focused on the experiences of women living in a new housing co-operative built exclusively for unattached, low income women of middle age. Initially, the main focus of this study was the health beliefs, concerns, and practices of women living on a low income. As the study evolved, however, the experience of living in the housing co-operative was of such concern to the participants that the effects of housing on health came to have greater importance.