Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Traditional Practices And Governmental Responsibilities: An Investigation Into The Evolving Partnership Between Indigenous Brazilian Midwives And State-Provided Maternal Healthcare Services, Caitlin Canfield

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Traditional midwives play important roles in the provision of maternal healthcare services in developing countries. Especially in rural, marginalized communities, traditional midwives help to provide obstetric care when local governmental health services fail to do so. The healthcare provision that traditional midwives “should” undertake is a subject debated by public health and development policy makers who seek to reduce maternal mortality rates and improve maternal health in rural communities in developing countries. This study examines the practices of traditional midwives in indigenous Tupinambá communities located in Southern Bahia, Brazil. It seeks to define the contemporary role of traditional midwives within …

“Sou Doméstica:” Construções De Identidade E Saúde Das Trabalhadoras Domésticas Salvador, Bahia Brasil, Jenny Fauci

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

O mundo do trabalho doméstico é um mundo invisível de discriminação, desvalorização e exploração. No Brasil, existem milhões de trabalhadoras domésticas, na sua maioria mulheres, negras e que vêm de histórias pobres. Essas trabalhadoras domésticas enfrentam uma agressão profunda contra a dignidade, direitos, saúde, e identidade delas.

Nesta pesquisa, perguntamos sobre a relação entre identidade e saúde. Como é que a identidade afeta a saúde? Qual é a natureza desta relação? A motivação para esta pergunta vem da invisibilidade das condições de saúde—como uma expressão do corpo e da mente-- desta população e também o reconhecimento que a identidade duma …

Individual Responsibility Concerning Hiv Transmission Among Msm: A Comparative Study Of The Effectiveness Of Ngo Intervention Policies And Their Practical Applications Within The United Kingdom, Australia, And The Netherlands, Martha Kienbaum

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study investigates the complexities involved in utilizing the terms of individual responsibility for the construction of HIV prevention campaigns that target men who have sex with men. Four health workers in the Netherlands were interviewed about their personal opinions regarding HIV intervention, and these interviews were analyzed qualitatively for their points of comparison and contrast. Then, campaign materials from organizations in the United Kingdom and Australia were analyzed for their use of the language of responsibility, their portrayal of MSM, their balance between promoting disclosure and communication, their focus on individual groups within the MSM community, and their overall …

The Complex Realities Of Indigenous Health Care Delivery, Megan Waterman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The indigenous population of Australia faces a life expectancy that is eighteen years lower than the general population. This study addresses this incredible disparity by exploring the historical, cultural and social forces that impact on health status, focussing especially on health care service utilisation. Qualitative methods of interviewing and participant observation have been used to examine the two sectors of Aboriginal health service delivery in urban Victoria: Aboriginal community controlled health organisations (ACCHOs) and mainstream organisations. Accounting for the complex forces and realities in health service delivery, this is a discussion of the important components of the current realities for …

La Ley De Maternidad Gratuita En Intag: Su Aplicación, Educación Y Uso, Stephanie Lewis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The country of Ecuador has a high rate of infant and maternal mortality, as well as problems with malnutrition. The Minister of Public Health responded to these problems with a law to provide the public with different types of free medical attention. The Minister’s hope is to reduce these problems with the law. The law is called the Law of Free Motherhood and Attention for Infants (Ley de Maternidad Gratuita y Atención a la Infancia), and includes free attention and vitamins for pregnant women, free birth and post-birth care, and vitamins, attention and vaccinations for children under 5 years of …

Working With The Tabu: Hiv/Aids Education Strategies In Fiji, Amanda Butts

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The focus of this paper is the cultural tabu, or taboo, in Fiji that prevents the open discussion of sex and therefore complicates education efforts towards HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Specific factors perpetuate the tabu including using it as an excuse to simply ignore a complex issue such as HIV/AIDS and using it to keep sex off social agendas in a predominantly Christian nation. Where organizations have taken strides to work with or break the tabu, the author examines and analyzes various education strategies employed by a variety of sectors including schools, health care facilities, faith-based organizations, the HIV positive …

How To Bridge The Gap: An Analysis Of The Coverage And Efficacy Of Volunteer Counseling And Testing Centers In Suba District, Kenya, Joseph Lippi

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Suba District of western Kenya is one of the areas most affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. According to Kenyan Ministry of Health publications, at the end of 2005, Suba District had an HIV/AIDS prevalence of 30%. This paper focuses on the numerous volunteer counseling and testing centers (VCTs) in Suba District that test and educate members of the community in effort to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. Great efforts have been made to attack the problem of HIV/AIDS in Suba district. This paper seeks to illuminate the numerous factors that keep people in the community from seeking VCT center …

Loaning Health: The Effectiveness Of Microfinance As An Hiv/Aids Intervention Method In Kibera Slums, Lara Berlin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Three of the major societal issues facing Kenya are poverty, gender inequalities, and HIV/AIDS, each of which acts as a catalyst for the others. In the last twenty years, microfinance has been used as an intervention method combating poverty and women’s disempowerment. As such, this study examines the effectiveness of using microfinance as an HIV/AIDS intervention method in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya. The research is primarily based upon interviews with Kibera residents and members of microfinance organizations. The findings indicate that most Kibera residents believe microfinance is the best method of reducing the spread of AIDS, especially when …

Current Issues In Healthcare In Samoa “Making-Do With What Is Available”, Veronica Braden

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this research was to look at the current issues in healthcare in present day Samoa. The research was conducted over a four week period, two of which were spent observing and interviewing in the public hospital, Tupua Tamasese Meaole, and in the private hospital, MedCen. This research was conducted to look at issues such as cleanliness of facilities, the shortage of supplies and technology in the hospitals, the demand for higher salaries made by the doctors, and the reasons for the trend towards the privatization of medicine. Also researched, was the role of the government in terms …

The Human Ecology Of A Disease: Dissemination Of Resources And Information On Hiv And Aids In Can Tho City And An Giang Province, Lucas Thornblade

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

HIV has spread worldwide. This virus, resulting in as-of-yet incurable destruction of the human immune system, has caused the death of millions in the last two decades through opportunistic infections manifest as AIDS. Though development of prevention and treatment measures have greatly improved in recent years, because of lack of resources, incidence of infection continues to increase annually in nearly all parts of the world including southeast Asia. This paper looks at how the disease has affected people’s lives in Can Tho City and An Giang Province in Vietnam’s southern Mekong Delta. This paper offers an epidemiological and biological argument …

Sex-Education And Preventative And Contraceptive Services: Educação-Sexual E Serviços Contraceptivos E Preventativos, Elizabeth M. Ortiz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Maternal morbidity is one of the leading causes of death amongst women in Latina America. Lack of access to Reproductive Health services has incited a continental epidemic amongst adolescent women - and should be considered a public health crisis. Yet, there is little being done by the governing male bodies to secure access and the Right to Reproductive Health services. This is not only a means of re-enforcing gendered inequalities- but also class, and racial disparities. Reproductive Health in Brazil and Northeastern Brazil in particular, serves as an allegory for socio-economic, gender, ethnic, and racial inequality in the region. The …

Abortion: The Reality For Women Of Praia Grande, Anna Tawse

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Under Brazilian law, abortions are prohibited in all cases except for pregnancies resulting from rape or sexual violence and pregnancies which present possible death or harm to the mother. Upon a closer look, however, it is obvious that regardless of the illegality, Brazilian women are getting abortions. In light of this, I conducted a research project to uncover more about the reality that Brazilian women, specifically located in Praia Grande (a small community on Ilha de Mare off the coast of Salvador), face given the simultaneous existence of the two situations listed above (which I refer to as the “abortion …

The Silence Around Them: Aids Ngos, Scaling Up And Aids Fatigue In University Students, Carolyn Holmes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

HIV/AIDS is undoubtedly one of the most talked about aspects of the political scene in South Africa. This epidemic is expected to ravage the South African population, wholly changing the country’s demographic landscape. The most infected and affected generation is also the first generation to come of age in the democracy for which their parents fought. In this study, the author examines the attitudes and opinions of students within the aforementioned generation; current students at the Howard College Campus of the University of KwaZulu Natal in Durban. Largely, the students were found to be apathetic and overexposed to NGO’s campaigns …

People Living With, Not Dying From Disease: Patient Empowerment Through Anti-Retroviral Therapy And Possibilities For Social Change, Xin Wei Ngiam

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In South Africa today, it is estimated that there are 6.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS, at least half a million of whom require urgent treatment. On the continent of Africa as a whole the numbers are even more startling. Unfortunately, although the South African government has now committed itself to rolling out anti-retroviral therapy through the public healthcare system, progress has been slower than expected. Yet in numerous sites around South Africa, rollout centres have been established successfully, even in the most rural parts of the country. These programmes rely on existing community initiatives, community health workers and volunteers, …

El Vih En La Ciudad De Buenos Aires: Obstáculos En El Acceso Al Tratamiento En El Sector Público, Erica Tai-Le Bliss

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The focus of my research is the access to HIV treatment in the public health sector in Buenos Aires. HIV testing and treatment are guaranteed, by law, financed completely by the government for patients in the public health sector who do not have any private insurance or social work insurance plan. Over three quarters of the registered cases of HIV are patients in the public sector. Although health care is free in the Capital, many patients don’t take HIV tests, seek treatment or eventually stop taking their medication. To investigate the motivations of the patients, I interviewed three sectors that …

Supporting Ourselves: Maintaining Mental Well-Being Through An Hiv+/Aids Support Group In A Rural South African Community, Narda Hernández

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper primarily explores the importance of the support group for people infected and affected by HIV+/AIDS. At St. Matthew’s Clinic in the rural area of Qoboqobo, I invited women between the ages of 25-49 to freely participate in the focus group discussions. I believe that the health care sector could benefit from these groups, both as formal outreach services and informal support networks. There is a lack of healthcare services in rural areas. Of particular interest, PLWA are continuously encouraged to join an HIV/AIDS support group. This paper aims to explore how people are dealing with stress and HIV/AIDS-related …

Una Enfermedad De La Sociedad: Una Investigación De Las Causas, Los Tratamientos, Y La Prevención De La Desnutrición De Niños En El Centro De Nutrición Infantil, Albina R. De Patiño, Kimberly A. Mukerjee

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Antes de empezar mi proyecto en el Centro de Nutrición Infantil, investigué los datos sobre la situación actual de desnutrición en Bolivia. Es importante incluir esta información para identificar los datos epidemiológicos de esta región de Cochabamba, y comparar con los datos obtenidos del país y de América Latina. Este es un resumen crítico de la información obtenida. La crisis de la pobreza en América Latina es un gran factor que afecta la salud de la población infantil. Cerca de un millón de niños latinoamericanos mueren al año víctimas de las condiciones inherentes a la pobreza, como la desnutrición, las …

Deaf Culture In Mombasa And Hiv/Aids Education, Krystel Viehmann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ten years ago a crisis was recognized by the Kenyan deaf community when it was realized that the country’s roughly 1 million deaf citizens had received little or no education about the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In Kenya, as elsewhere, the deaf population has formed a community characterized by a common, shared language and experience as a disabled population. The intracacies of this unique culture affect their interactions with the majority hearing community as they have their own customs and ways of interacting with one another that are distinct from the hearing majority. In 2004, the first VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) …

Cervical Cancer Screening In Rural South Africa: An Analysis Of The Awareness, Attitudes, And Practices Of Women Served By The Masincedane Clinic, Jordan Schneider

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The aim of this study was to conduct a brief investigation into the awareness, attitudes and practices regarding cervical cancer among women living in Keiskammahoek, a rural area in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The objectives of this study were to:

• Determine if screening is available within a localized rural community and the methods that are being used.

• Determine if women are coming in for screening, the demographics of these women, and the circumstances that bring them into PHC clinics.

• Investigate the level of knowledge and education about cervical cancer and prevention among women within the …

Indigenous Healing Practices And Their Effect On Tb And Hiv/Tb Patients’ Utilization And Compliance With Anti-Tb Medication, Josephine Thinwa

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A sample of 27 Tuberculosis patients attending New Brighton Clinic in small urban community for treatment were surveyed and interviewed on their use of alternative treatments and interpretation of TB. This study specifically focused on TB patients’ use of traditional medicine in treating TB and whether this use had an effect on the patients’ willingness to utilize and adherence to anti-TB treatment from the clinic. Investigations were also done to characterize if an HIV positive status influenced TB patients’ inclination to utilize traditional medicine. Through a focus group discussion with three traditional healers, information was provided on traditional medicine and …

Descriptive And Comparative Study Of The Nutritional Knowledge And Behavior Of Mothers Of Young Children Who Have Received Targeted Nutritional Education And Those Who Have Not As A Method To Ascertain The Effectiveness Of The Little Tree Nutritional And Educational Centre In Combating Malnutrition In The Pienaarsig Township Of Nieu Bethesda, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, Amelia Peterson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Mental Healthcare In A Rural Community, Thuy Nguyen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study intends to observe and document the picture of mental health in a rural setting specifically, the Keiskamahoek area. Also, the project aims to evaluate the changes, if any exist, that resulted from recent attempts to integrate mental healthcare into the primary healthcare setting and bring psychiatric patients back to the community environment for treatment.

A Feasibility Study And Proposal For A Day Care Program At Sit, Patricia Hamilton

MA TESOL Collection

No abstract provided.