Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Socio-Economic Integration Strategies Of “Former Rwandan Refugees” In Yaoundé, Cameroon., Michèle Mc Signé

Journal of Critical Global Issues

This research is entitled The Socio-economic Integration Strategies of “former Rwandan refugees” in Yaoundé, Cameroon. This is an analysis of immigrants who were once under international protection. The presence of former Rwandan refugees in the city of Yaoundé dates back to the time of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. With the advent of the cessation clause in 2018, we are faced with individuals who must find ways of coping with the new realities. Based on the assimilation and integration of immigrant, this study analyzes the integration strategies of former Rwandan refugees. This integration is facilitated by a social context described as …

Prioritizing Indigenous Participation And Compensation In Research, Amanda Sabin

Journal of Critical Global Issues

Throughout history, the dynamic between colonial entities and indigenous groups has been characterized by exploitation and power imbalance. Indigenous knowledge has the potential to positively impact the world, through medicinal breakthroughs, radical approaches to sustainability, cultural heritage, systems of learning and adaptation, and more. Particularly in the context of research, fields like anthropology, botany and pharmacology serve to benefit from indigenous knowledge, but these interactions cannot continue to be based on extraction at the cost of indigenous communities. This work will discuss the future of relationships between researchers and indigenous communities; how this power dynamic must be transformed into an …

Responding To Disproportionate Skin Cancer Rates Affecting Adult Men Aged 18-60, Aaron Thompson

Capstone Collection

Skin cancer is a deadly disease that kills significantly more men than women every year. At the same time, women are more than twice as likely to apply daily sun protection factor (SPF) than men. This research study explores how key stakeholders within the skin care industry have responded to the data showing increasing disparities between male and female skin cancer rates. To fulfill the objectives of this research study, qualitative data was collected from six semi-structured interviews with adult males between the ages of 18 and 60. The interviews were intentionally designed to engage with the American, adult male’s …

Conflicting Socio-Cultural Attitudes And Community Factors Resulting In Backstreet Abortion In Cato Manor, Kwazulu Natal, Chloe Sachs

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Abortion in South Africa is a complex topic, rife with augmenting and limiting political, social, religious, and cultural factors. In South Africa, abortion has been legal since 1996; however, abortions have been performed for centuries in the region. Although abortion is legal, many factors influence a woman’s choice and ability to terminate a pregnancy. Religious and cultural norms within morally conservative societies contribute to negative abortion sentiments and hesitation to seek formal medical abortions. This study explored multiple age groups within Cato Manor and whether the attitudes towards abortion and factors impacting the choice of where and whether to receive …

El Empoderamiento De Personas Embarazadas Y Posparto En Arica, Chile: Perspectivas Indígenas Y Biomédicas, Abby Perce

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El parto, sin importar las tradiciones o los procedimientos utilizados, es un proceso transformador tanto para quien da a luz como para el bebé. Si bien los procesos de embarazo, parto y posparto son experiencias individualizadas, el apoyo de la comunidad y la atención médica cuidadosa pueden marcar una gran diferencia en los sentimientos de empoderamiento y satisfacción en la vida de los pacientes. Este estudio exploratorio cualitativo tiene como objetivo comprender los contextos culturales que influyen en el apoyo disponible para las personas embarazadas y puérperas en Arica, Chile, así como investigar las formas en que este apoyo conduce …

Costumbre Y Carnavales; El Rol De Alcohol En La Comunidad Aymara De Putre, Billy White

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo evaluar el impacto del alcohol en la comunidad aymara de Putre, localidad rural del norte de Chile. Se realizaron 17 entrevistas semiformales en Putre y sus alrededores con profesionales de la salud de la comunidad, pacientes adultos del CESFAM local, curanderos tradicionales aymaras y líderes comunitarios. El estudio encontró que el consumo de alcohol en Putre está intrínsecamente relacionado con las costumbres y la cultura aymara, ya que su perspectiva sobre el alcohol informa su consumo. El alcohol tiene un papel importante en la religión aymara, la medicina y las fiestas locales. Los hábitos de …

Medicina Tradicional En La Urbe: El Funcionamiento Del Sistema De Salud Mapuche En Santiago, Mariko Yatsuhashi

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En Santiago, Chile, una ciudad con más de 5 millones de personas, el pueblo originario Mapuche ha logrado la reconstrucción de su sistema tradicional de salud para servir la comunidad urbana de la comunidad mapuche. Hoy en día, la mayoría de gente mapuche viven en ambientes urbanos debido a una migración masiva desde su territorio ancestral en el sur, que creó una población distinta de gente mapuche llamada warriache, o gente de la ciudad. Después de una expansión nacional de los derechos básicos de pueblos originarios en los años ‘90, el pueblo originario Mapuche, junto con otros pueblos originarios, podía …

Psychopathology Or Possession: How Ghanaian Pentecostal And Charismatic Christians Understand Mental Illnesses And How Perceived Understandings Vary Depending On If They Are Current Students Or Not, Jamila L. Taffe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research investigates the perceptions held by Ghanaian Chrsitians from Pentecostal/Charismatic churches about mental illnesses. The data collected was done through a qualitative method of acquiring information. Interviews were conducted alongside intensive research of existing scholarship that addressed religion and mental health within Ghanaian culture. A total of 5 in depth interviews were carried out with participants ranging from the ages of 20-35. Three participants were current university students at the University of Ghana while the other two were non-students but held degrees. The objective was to make comparisons between the student and non-student groups about their knowledge about mental …

The State Of Transgender And Kinnar Communities In Delhi: Case Studies Connecting Socioeconomic Factors To Health, Ray Craig

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The paper seeks to draw connections between socioeconomic barriers faced by the transgender (trans) community in Delhi, India and the healthcare that the community receives. It primarily discusses transgender people who are not part of the kinnar population, with as much consideration to the experiences of the kinnar community as possible, given limited access to their circles. Five transgender individuals and two cisgender individuals who have worked with trans communities participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews to understand various factors that affect trans people’s daily lives and their healthcare experiences in Delhi. Interviews were transcribed and coded, finding common themes of …

Inclusión Cultural En Fonasa: Parto Aymara Como Un Estudio De Caso, Madison Singleton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Los primeros años de la década de 2000s sirven como un período legal transformador en Chile, debido al auge de los grupos de representación indígena y la introducción de la ley 20.584 que asegura un modelo de interculturalidad en los servicios de salud. El objetivo de esta investigación es comprender los factores que impactaron en la priorización de la inclusión cultural en el sistema público de salud (FONASA), utilizando el parto aymara en Arica como un estudio de caso. Esta investigación toma forma en un diseño de investigación cualitativa y exploratoria utilizando 5 entrevistas y 5 observaciones, así como las …

Observaciones De La Medicina Mapuche Y El Mito De La Medicina Interculturalidad En Chile Con La Machi Rosita Barboza, Anat Gilligan-Steinberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Chile cuenta con un sistema de salud intercultural, que promueve el acceso a servicios de salud culturalmente competentes para la población indígena. A través de mi pasantía con la machi Rosita Barboza, acompañándola a centros de salud, en ceremonias de sanación mapuche y ayudando en la preparación y distribución de remedios; he llegado a la conclusión de que no es más que un mito de la interculturalidad. Existe un conflicto constante entre las definiciones de salud occidental e indígena, que impiden la disponibilidad de salud complementaria. La salud occidental se basa en una definición biomédica de la salud, la cosmovisión …

Intergenerational Change In Hiv/Aids-Related Stigma In Cato Manor, Mijin Cho

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In South Africa, the world’s epicenter of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, HIV-related stigma and stigma-enforcing stereotypes continue to serve as major health barriers to receiving adequate HIV prevention and treatment. While there continues to be a rise in research and advocacy, there is a need to study HIV stigma through a multigenerational lens that addresses the changing HIV/AIDS stigma in the post-apartheid era. Using qualitative methodology, this study aims to explore the generational differences in perceived HIV stigma between females in their 20s and above 50 years of age (as denoted by “50s+”) living in Cato Manor, South Africa. The study …

Fighting Heroin Abuse With Heroin: How Legalizing Prescription Heroin Has Changed The Way New Generations Use Drugs, Claire Ridley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the 1980s, Switzerland was embroiled in two simultaneous crises: widespread heroin use and spreading HIV/AIDS. Zurich became the capital of heroin consumption, with groups gathering in public parks and sharing needles to inject heroin. In response to these crises, several Swiss cities started conducting randomized control trials where they offered prescription heroin to help people addicted to heroin consume the drug safely and eventually recover from their addiction. As these trials reported positive results of maintaining better health outcomes for those undergoing treatment, the Swiss people supported federally legalizing heroin-assisted treatment and expanding access to harm reduction services in …

The Effects Of Gender-Based Violence On Maternal And Neonatal Health Among Women Of Reproductive Age Seeking Services At The Gender-Based Violence Recovery Center At Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching And Referral Hospital, Mana Tezuka

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study is to provide recent data analysis on the patients that come in to seek services at the Gender-Based Violence Recovery Center at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital. The demographic features that will be analyzed include age, gender, pregnancy status, and follow-up trends. There will be an in-depth case study that will look at the perspective of a patient that experienced forms of gender-based violence during and after her pregnancy and the perspective of the counsellor assigned to this patient’s case. There will also be an analysis on an interview conducted with the nurse-in-charge …

A Comparative Analysis Of Migrant Health Policies And Practices In The Us And Switzerland, Rebecca Mak

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Migrants compose a large proportion of the population in both the US and Switzerland. The social vulnerability of migrants has been well-established in literature, but few studies have attempted to compare healthcare policies and approaches that most effectively support migrant health using multiple measures.

To fill this gap in the literature, this study will comparatively analyze of the efficacy of US and Switzerland migrant health policies and services by assessing access to and quality of care for migrants in each country. Four main features of healthcare systems were analyzed: insurance policy, healthcare utilization, NCD outcomes, and patient perceptions of care. …

Evaluating The Validity Of Restrictions On Blood Donation Eligibility For Men Who Have Sex With Men (Msm) In The United States, France, And Switzerland, Swathi Gorantla

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For the first time in a decade, the number of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnoses is higher for heterosexual people compared to gay and bisexual men (Florêncio, 2022). Additionally, in the United States, the American Red Cross has declared a national blood crisis due to the nationwide shortage of donated blood. During this crisis, charged with the new information on HIV diagnosis rates, many advocates for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) community question why discriminatory policy surrounding gay and bisexual men donating still exist around the world. These policies are changing worldwide – several European countries have …

La Política Cultural Del Aborto: Las Percepciones Y El Manejo Del Aborto En Arica, Chile, Eva Strelitz-Block

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Chile has a long history of restricting access to legal abortion. Until 2017, when the government passed the law N° 21.030 decriminalizing abortion on three grounds, abortion was completely illegal. However, despite this movement towards decriminalization, legal abortion access is still very limited and highly restricted. In this criminalized, highly stigmatized environment, self-managed abortion has emerged as a way to transform the landscape of abortion. This qualitative, exploratory study seeks to explore perceptions of abortion and practices of abortion management both within and outside of the official healthcare system among women and people with the capacity to become pregnant and …

Shinetagantsi: Un Caso De La Alimentación Materna E Infantil Y Medicina Intercultural Durante Lactancia En La Comunidad Nativa De Palotoa Teparo, Layne Scopano

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Con un enfoque antropológico, esta investigación analiza las percepciones del cuidado desde los sistemas médicos occidentales y la medicina tradicional de las madres de la comunidad nativa de Palotoa Teparo en la Amazonía peruana en lo que respecta a la nutrición durante la lactancia. Los resultados de este estudio, obtenidos a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas y observación directa e indirecta, permiten describir el estado nutricional de las madres de Palotoa Teparo durante la lactancia y su relación con la nutrición infantil, señalar las prácticas de salud, tanto occidental como tradicional, relevantes para el estado nutricional de las madres y los …

Healing In The Himalayas: Mustangi Medical Practitioners’ Perspectives On Integrative Approaches To Chronic Illness, Lucia Morey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this Independent Study Project is to capture a snapshot of the opinions and experiences of 13 health practitioners from 7 villages and towns in Mustang. Specifically, I asked independent healers (IH), amchis and health post workers about their practices and perspectives on chronic illness, integrative medicine and the intersection of the two. I found that there is a flow of information in one general direction, with practitioners along a continuum of most to least globally recognized. Understandably, the least well known (independent healers) are aware of Traditional Tibetan Medicine (TTM) and conventional Western medicine (CWM). Subcategories of …

Worrying In Cato Manor: A Case Study Analysis On The Influence Of Context, Samantha Garbus

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Social Causation theory states that social and economic circumstances cause people to be at a higher risk of mental illness (Lund 2011, p.1). South Africa has high inequality, with racial disparities prevalent in multiple indicators of socioeconomic status. Moreover, mental health in South Africa has often not been prioritized. This project aimed to assess how context impacts relevant aspects of mental health, such as worrying and the mind/body stress-response in Cato Manor. An additional theme of community beliefs on stress emerged from the interviews which is also presented.

For this project, I used a Mixed Methods-Case Study research design. I …

Draagmoederschap: Surrogacy In The Netherlands, Olivia Murray

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this paper, I investigated surrogacy in the Netherlands by interviewing four surrogates and one intended parent about their experiences. I found that the participants shared several common experiences and opinions, especially related to why they chose to be surrogates, how surrogates and intended parents negotiate their relationship during and after pregnancy, the tensions of passing on parenthood and merging families, the (non-binding) contracts that surrogates and parents create, Dutch law, and commercial surrogacy. I argue that much of the discourse around surrogacy relitigates many of the arguments made in favor and against sex work, in that it sets surrogacy …

Representation And Recommendations: Participation Of People Who Use Drugs In Un-Level Policy-Making, Lily Knudsen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although participation in health policy-making is a popular topic in the literature and a stated priority of the United Nations, very little research has been published examining the full spectrum of participation by people who use drugs (PWUD) at the UN level. This study aims to describe and evaluate this participation through a combination of a literature review that looks at academic sources, UN publications, and publications by organizations of PWUD, and a series of interviews with representatives of organizations of PWUD who have participated in UN level policy-making.

Data collected demonstrates that there is no comprehensive system for the …

A Hidden Emergency: Transgenerational Inheritance In The Next Generation Of Rwandans, Neila Gross

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cases of physiological and psychological health disorders in the generation succeeding generation of the 1994 genocide are rising at an alarming pace. The presented work herein details a qualitative and quantitative approach to understanding the transmission of trauma from the surviving population of the 1994 Genocide Against Tutsi in their offspring using the APA PTSD System Scale-Interview (PSS-I). Several variables including age, gender and background were employed in this study. The results indicate that offspring born of targeted survivors of the 1994 Genocide Against Tutsi show increased trends of experiencing PTSD symptoms with children born in 1994 exhibiting the greatest …

Disability And Healthcare Access In Morocco: Social And Cultural Influences, Christa Shipman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I stepped into the SIT Multiculturalism and Human Rights program as a pre-physical therapy student with experience working and volunteering in the disability rights arena. Striking personal encounters with Moroccans combined with these past experiences drew me to investigate how social and cultural factors influence access to healthcare for people with disabilities. I hypothesized that access to medical care is limited by social or cultural mindsets, perceptions, or beliefs for those in my target population. This subject is relevant to Morocco as a developing country and as a society with, in some cases, fixed social dynamics, while in other areas …

Los Efectos Psicosociales Que Produce El Embarazo En Las Vidas De Madres Adolescentes En Quito, Ecuador, Kaylee Howell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: What are the psychological and social effects of teen pregnancy facing teen mothers in 2021 and how do they impact their lives? Objective: The general objective is to describe the psychosocial implications produced by teen pregnancy. Background: Teen pregnancy rates of Latin America and the Caribbean are second in the world, second only to the region of Subsaharan-Africa. Within Latin America, Ecuador has the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy, surpassed only by Venezuela. Recently, the taboo surrounding reproductive health has been challenged, with the matter of abortion being brought to the supreme court. In conjunction with the matter …

The Multi-Step Approach To Covid Prevention In The Casamance Region, Saraí Hernandez Salguero

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Located in the Oussouye Department approximately 43 kilometers away from the city of Ziguinchor in the Basse Casamance region of southern Senegal is the Oussouye commune where I had the pleasure of staying for three weeks. I had learned that the inhabitants of this village were not significantly impacted by the Covid-19 virus since it became global knowledge at the start of 2020. As of March 2020, the village had only reported 69 active cases and the department saw only 8 deaths in total. I sought to figure out what could be the cause of this and through a series …

Covid-19 Vaccine Diplomacy In West Africa: Empathetic Soft-Power Or Neocolonial Intentions?, Mary Sperrazza

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

With the impending roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, many questions have been raised concerning the roll-out of the vaccines beyond the Global North. While some countries across the Global South have been able to purchase limited numbers of vaccines; many countries in the Global South remain highly or entirely dependent on various programs for the distribution of vaccines, such as the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) program. Another means of distribution is of individual countries of the Global North that have either higher purchasing power or are producers of one or more vaccines that have begun donating an allocated amount of …

Evaluating The Pragmatic And Moralistic Approach To Drug Policy And Addiction In Opioid Epidemic Outcomes, Brielle Seidel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Drug use, policy and outcomes differ in all countries; however, trends exist in response to these circumstances and can typically be evaluated through a pragmatic and moralistic lens. The public health, and evidence-based pragmatic approach differs from the law enforcement-centered moralistic approach, specifically in outcomes of people suffering from substance use disorder. Particularly for opioid use disorder, countries that have taken the pragmatic approach in response to opioid epidemics have had dramatic results. Two of the countries discussed include Switzerland and Portugal, with additional information on the Netherlands. In contrast, current opioid epidemics exist in certain countries who maintain a …

An Assessment Of The Traditional Botanical Usage Of The Indigeneous People Of The Bugungu Sub-Region Of Western Uganda, Elena Kilber

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The questions that this study aimed to answer were: how are indigenous plants used for medicine, and spiritual practices by the indigenous Bagungu communities? What effect has colonization and globalization had on the knowledge of plants held by indigenous Bagungu communities? And how is the knowledge the Bagungu people hold of traditional plant use preserved through the generations? The methods used to answer these questions were key informant interviews with five herbalists and seven clan custodians from the Bagungu community, and questionnaires administered to 31 Bagungu community members between the ages of 27 and 83. Data were analyzed using qualitative …

Assessing The Need For And Access To Migrant-Sensitive Rehabilitative Healthcare: An Analysis Of Current Swiss And German Practices, Lauren Cuppy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In recent years, the noticeable increase in migration has placed scrutiny on the migrant-sensitive services provided in healthcare settings globally. Migrants, in general, experience different health issues and worse health outcomes than non-migrants. In response to this, healthcare systems around the world have begun implementing migrant-sensitive healthcare (MSHC) systems; yet, although nearly a third of the world’s population experiences some health condition that would benefit from rehabilitation, the implementation of MSHC rehabilitation services have been critically understudied. This paper seeks to investigate the geographic and MSHC accessibility of rehabilitation in Geneva, Switzerland to fill the current gap of literature and …