Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Different Perceptions Of Breast Cancer In Post-Conflict Northern Uganda, Karen Im

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Objective: To assess breast cancer perceptions in Northern Uganda for the purpose of informing necessary cancer initiatives.

Methods: Breast cancer patients and the Gulu District community development officer participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were analyzed using qualitative data analysis.

Results: The concept of cancer is relatively new in Northern Uganda. In conjunction with a lack of understanding and competing priorities, many women are often diagnosed in late and advanced stages. Most women go to the hospital when they feel distinctive pain in the body instead of getting regular check-ups.

Conclusions: Educating people on needs for more proactive health-seeking behavior could …

Il Faut Manger: A Study Of Women’S Body Image And Obesity In Mali, Jennifer Denike

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Africa has long been a region of the world marked by the media as one of rail thin children with distended bellies and older men and women with cracked and wrinkled skin sagging off their bones. Media outlets like BBC, CNN, and the New York Times focus entire sections of their websites to special reports entitled ‘Famine in Africa’2, ‘Food Crisis in Niger’3, and ‘East Africa Famine 2011’4. Photos of children curled up on the ground, ribs and bones protruding at every angle grace the pages of nearly every magazine and newspaper. Nongovernmental organizations plead for donations and host fundraisers …

When Mountain Bellies Grow Round: Localized Knowledge And Behaviors Facilitating Pregnancy And Childbirth In Phaphlu, Nepal, Cailin Marsden

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In attempts to gain a level of understanding of a community’s localized experiences, beliefs, practices, and roles around pregnancy and childbirth, ethnographic fieldwork was conducted with the mothers and fathers of Phaphlu in the Solukhumbu district of Nepal. Aimed at the validation of diverse and localized ways of knowing revealed during the fieldwork period, this paper applies anthropologist Bridgette Jordan’s theoretical framework of authoritative knowledge to the emergent themes of subjectively understood childbirth (knowledge acquisition and flow, role of the husband, and protective behavior.)

The Perfect Storm: How Pro-Abortion Activists In The Netherlands Incite Social Change From International Waters, Julia Ellis‐Kahana

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project is a sociological ethnography of the Women on Waves foundation, founded in 1999 by Dr. Rebecca Gomperts. As an international non-profit organization, they employ a direct action method: sailing to countries where abortion is illegal and providing safe abortion access. Local women board the ship that then travels 12 miles to international waters, where Dutch law applies, and the abortion pill can be administered legally. Using a feminist perspective, I interviewed five of the women at the organization in addition to the ship’s captain in order to understand the ideological beliefs about the reproductive rights that have inspired …

Differentiating The Vulnerability Of Kothis And Hijras To Hiv/Aids: A Case Study Of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Poonam Daryani

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The present study aims to begin the process of differentiation between the various subpopulations that fall under the agenda of interventions targeted at Males who have Sex with Males (MSM). This separation is accomplished though an investigation of the sociocultural factors and behavioral patterns impacting the vulnerability of MSM and transgender (TG) 5 communities to HIV/AIDS. Specifically, the situation of kothi and hijra populations are compared in order to understand how the differences in their cultural practices and lifestyles create unique sexual health needs. The study was completed in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh under the guidance of Bharosa Trust and MAAN …

Economic Empowerment And Hiv Prevention Among Young Women And Girls In Kenya: Lessons From The Study Of Economic Empowerment Programs, Samantha Van Putten

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

One of the major issues facing Kenya is HIV/AIDS. With recognition by the global community that providing women with economic opportunities can help both those who are HIV positive, as well as in prevention for those who are not infected, programs combining microfinance and HIV education have started to emerge. While women in these programs 3 3 have shown preliminary signs of success, young girls did not respond as well in part due to lack of interest in the particular programs themselves. As such, this study examines two economic empowerment programs for girls and young mothers at the non-governmental organization …

Reproductive Realities: Fulani Women & Contraception, Corrina Regnier

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper is the product of three weeks of research on contraception and the lives of married Fulani women in Ngaoundéré, Cameroon. Based on interviews with Fulani women, conducted both in French and in the Fulani language of Fulfulde with the aid of a French interpreter, I discuss the cultural and religious influences on women’s lives that impact their decisions or abilities to use contraception, as well as the ways these influences and realities have changed, are changing, and are expected to change in the future. I also look into the more practical concern of the availability and accessibility of …

“El Tema No Existe”: La Salud Sexual Lésbica En Valparaíso, Chile, Isabel Osgood-Roach

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This independent study project investigates the status of lesbian health care in Valparaíso, Chile. Over the course of three weeks, I conducted interviews with six women who engage in non-heterosexual intimate relationships. These individuals identify on a spectrum of sexual orientation that includes lesbian, bisexual and hetero-dissident. I also participated in a political demonstration organized by Acción Gay supporting a proposed Anti-Discrimination law. Finally, I attended a meeting of the recently formed lesbian health group Colectivo Ropa Tendida to gain insight into an organization working towards visibilizing lesbian realities. To contextualize my investigation, I worked with theories regarding essentialist and …

Doulas Going Dutch: The Role Of Professional Labor Support In The Netherlands, Monica He

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study uses a mixed method approach and medicalization theory to explore the new role of professional doulas in the Netherlands through the perspectives of women who have had doula-attended births. Survey data from the Dutch doula association is first analyzed in order to quantify women’s experiences with doula care and characterize their demographic information and birth outcomes. Simulatenously, nine in-depth interviews are conducted with Dutch and non- Dutch mothers who have recently had doula-attended births. The interviews focus on experiences with doula care in the context of the Dutch maternity care system. Quantitative analysis finds women who had doulas …

El Uso Escondido De Anticonceptivos Modernos: Una Reflección Del Machismo De Los Hombres Y El Empoderamiento De Las Mujeres En El Alto Y La Paz, Kathleen Elizabeth Trocin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Contraception use has proven to be an extremely important public health issue in Bolivia since the later 20^th century given its relationship with the country’s high maternal and infant mortality rate in comparison to other nations in South America. In this research paper, I explore the hidden use of contraception in Bolivia. More specifically, I study women in the areas of El Alto and La Paz who hide their contraception use from their partners. This paper discusses machismo as the cause of the hidden use of contraception, the effects of hidden contraception use on the women, and the broader …