Bracho-Perez, Bianca2016-05-052016-05-052015https://hdl.handle.net/2144/16199Smartphone technology has transformed the process by which women understand themselves, manage their care decisions and access health information, while also creating a space for more integrated and individualized understandings of wellness. Using exploratory, semi-structured interviews (n = 27) and observation of phone use, this study examines how minority women in Boston engage with smartphones through health-related mobile applications and web searches. Drawing upon postphenomenology, I examine the way smartphones have become both a regulatory force and motivational tool in the formation of self. I argue that the integration of smartphones into user identity positions them as the primary entryway for health decision-making (Garro, 1986, 1998) and patient-clinician interactions.en-USHealth care managementApparatgeistDecision-makingMedical anthropologymHealthPostphenomenologySmartphonesThesis/Dissertation2016-04-08