Intersections between rural women’s resilience and quality of life: a mixed-methods study

OBJECTIVE: to analyze the intersections between rural women’s quality of life and resilience. METHOD: convergent mixed methods design in which a cross-sectional quantitative study is triangulated with a qualitative study guided by Oral History. Data were collected concomitantly, using a socio-demographic form, Resilience Scale, Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, and open-ended interviews. The analysis was based on descriptive and inferential statistics and inductive thematic analysis, which was integrated later. RESULTS: an association was found between the social aspects domain of quality of life and a moderate level of resilience related to the characteristics of life in rural areas. The integration of results enabled verifying that these two constructs (which mutually influence each other) are mediated by protective factors, resilience developed by the rural women, such as spirituality and the formation of social support, enchantment, and a feeling of belonging to their context. CONCLUSION: by developing protective factors, rural women develop a resilient behavior that favors their quality of life. Identifying these factors enables the development of psychosocial interventions to promote rural women’s health.