Public Health Commons^™

Poverty And Commercial Surrogacy In India: An Intersectional Analytical Approach, Sheela Suryanarayanan

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The destination and source countries for commercial surrogacy match world patterns of inequality. India, Nepal, Thailand, Mexico, and Cambodia banned commercial surrogacy, moving the market to other less-developed countries in South Africa and South America. India had a commercial surrogacy boom until exploitative factors led to the passage of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill in 2019, which banned the practice. This paper examines surrogacy's monetary, health, and emotional effects on 45 surrogate mothers in Gujarat State, India. The study revealed that a majority (63%) of the very poor women remained very poor post-surgery. Surrogate mothers in poor households had to do …

Healing Through Mother Earth, Taylor A. Russell

Dance (MFA) Theses

This thesis deals with mental health, with a focus on Black women. Historically, Black women are often so compromised, being constant caregivers and helping everyone else, that they forget to help themselves, not having the time and financial means to do so. If we go back in the time of slavery, many Black women were taking care of slave owners' children and suckling the white women’s babies instead of their own. By the time they got home and after diligently caring for other people’s children they were focused on their own children, who they had been away from for hours …

Media’S Portrayal Of Women And Its Impact On Body Image And Self-Esteem, Hannah Bareis

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project addresses the portrayal of women in media and its damaging effects on body image and self-esteem. It raises two critical questions: What negative impact is media creating on women? What can be done to combat these destructive effects?

According to a study done by Common Sense Media, "American teens use an average of 9 hours of media daily, not including for school and homework" (Common Sense Media, 2015). This data, along with many others, shows the severity of media exposure to teens. This has brought a valuable discussion to the table. How has this impacted female body image, …

Knowledge Of Breast Cancer And Screening Methods Among Rural Women In Southwest Nigeria, Rowland Edet, Oluwayimika Ekundina

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to assess the awareness of rural women on breast cancer and its screening methods in Southwest Nigeria. Descriptive cross-sectional survey design with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire was used to generate data among 422 rural women in selected communities in Egbeda local government area of Ibadan. The qualitative data was generated through in-depth interviews among rural women and key informant interviews among health workers in the communities. The study revealed that only 63.7% were aware of breast cancer screening methods compared to 31.6% who were not aware. The commonly known screening method among …

The Victimization Of Native American Women In The United States: The Impact And Potential Underlying Factors, Kaci A. Clement

Honors Thesis

In recent decades, a topic of concern that has gained attention in the United States and throughout the world is violence against women. Surveys conducted nationally have found that there is a correlation between which racial group a woman identifies as and her likelihood to be victimized at some point in her life. American Indian/Alaskan Native women, in particular, are impacted by violence at disproportionate rates. However, definitive reasoning for the high rates of violence in these groups has not been fully investigated. There is a lack of surveillance and dissemination regarding this specific topic as well as other issues …

Area-Level Factors Linked To Obesity In African American And Caucasian Women In Michigan, Marjorie Arrey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity is a major public health crisis, affecting every segment of the U.S. population. African American women have higher prevalence of obesity than all other subpopulations and are disproportionately burdened by the disease and its comorbidities. Despite this disparity, African American women are often underrepresented in obesity research. This research examined obesity-related risk factors specific to African American women compared to those for Caucasian women. The design was based on the socioecological model and social cognitive theory, both emphasizing the impact of social factors on health outcomes. The data set included only adult Michigan women from the NHANES study. Multiple …

Knowledge Of Breast Cancer And Screening Methods Among Rural Women In Southwest Nigeria: A Mixed Method Analysis, Rowland Edet, Oluwayimika Ekundina, Obasanjo Afolabi Bolarinwa, Julianah Babajide, Juliet Amarachukwu Nwafor

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to assess the awareness of rural women on breast cancer and its screening methods in Southwest Nigeria. Descriptive cross-sectional survey design with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire was used to generate data among 422 rural women in selected communities in Egbeda local government area of Ibadan. The qualitative data was generated through in-depth interviews among rural women and key informant interviews among health workers in the communities. The study revealed that only 63.7% were aware of breast cancer screening methods compared to 31.6% who were not aware of it. The commonly known screening …

Same-Sex Sexual Coercion Among Women: The Impact Of Minority Stress On Perpetration And Victimization Experiences Of Women Of Diverse Sexual Identities, Allison Kirschbaum

Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to investigate women’s experiences with same-sex sexual coercion perpetration and victimization. Specifically, I sought to explore the role that the stress of living as a sexual minority plays in these experiences as well as to determine whether the psychological variables of perceived powerlessness, psychological distress, social support, and alcohol use mediate the relationship between minority stress and perpetration and victimization experiences. Data were collected online from self-identified women and individuals assigned female at birth who reported experiencing genital sexual contact with another woman (N=339). Of the cisgender women in the sample, 31.6% reported …

An Analysis Of Major Issues For Culturally-Minded Professionals In Women's Health Care, Victoria Clark

Victoria Clark

Women's Perceptions Of Malaria In The Western Rural Areas Of Sierra Leone, Marcella Davies

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Malaria is one of the leading causes of death for children and women in Sierra Leone. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and understand the lived experiences of women from the rural areas of Sierra Leone regarding malaria. A purposive sample of Krio women from the western rural area, aged 21-55 years, spoke English, and had taken care of someone with malaria described their perceptions and lived experiences with the disease in face-to-face interviews. The research questions were based on the health belief model and focused on knowledge, beliefs, and perceptions about malaria prevention and treatment. Interpretative …

An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Spirituality And Coping Responses Among Women With A Visual Impairment, Sandra Marie Bullins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine coping responses, specifically by women, and the relationship between those coping responses and a woman’s self-reported spirituality. The sample was comprised of women (n = 175) from the United States and 10 foreign countries. The results of a correlational analysis showed a strong positive relationship (r= 0.46, p<0.0001) between scores on the Spirituality Assessment Scale (SAS) and the Brief Cope (BC). There were also statistically significant correlations among subscales of the SAS and BC subscales. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed to evaluate the impact that select demographic variables might have on spirituality and coping responses. The results of the MANOVA showed no effect and were not statistically significant at alpha 0.1.

History Of Key Events In Women’S Health Care, Zoё M. Chambliss

Student Publications

In 1973, ninety-three percent of all American doctors were men (Ehrenreich and English). Gender based inequity permeates all spheres of women’s health care from employment to access to treatment to biologically-based myths of male superiority, yet women once presided over the health and spirituality of their communities and their own bodies. All of the earliest human societies worshipped the Earth Goddess and respected women as holy givers of life. This tradition persisted until the rise of the patriarchy and Western “Civilization” increasingly forced women out of positions of power and rewrote the religious stories to give supremacy to male sun …

What Are The Perspectives Of Osteoporosis Screening Among Black Women?, Angela Alsberry Wilkins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Osteoporosis is a serious disease which often brings pain, disability, hospitalization, and even death. An increasing number of studies have been conducted on the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in White women, yet a paucity of research exists to explain disparities in screening and treatment of osteoporosis in Black women. This narrative study describes the perspectives of Black women regarding individual barriers to osteoporosis screening. The purpose of this study was to better understand the perspectives of Black women regarding prevention of and screening for osteoporosis. Selections included purposive, criterion sampling of 10 Black women who were 50 years and …

Reproductive Rights In Latin America: A Case Study Of Guatemala And Nicaragua, Katherine W. Bogen

Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal at Clark (SURJ)

A lack of access to contraceptives and legal abortion for women throughout the nations of Nicaragua and Guatemala creates critical health care problems. Moreover, rural and underprivileged women in Guatemala and Nicaragua are facing greater limitations to birth control access, demonstrating a classist aspect in the global struggle for female reproductive rights. Although some efforts have been made over the past half-century to initiate a dialogue on the failure of medical care in these nations to adequately address issues of maternal mortality and reproductive rights, the women's reproductive health movements of Nicaragua and Guatemala have struggled to reach an effective …

Muslim Women And United States Healthcare: Challenges To Access And Navigation, Dayna M. Seeger

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

This paper offers an analysis of the interactions of Muslim women in the US healthcare system in order to unpack challenges and propose potential accommodations. Islam may inform values or considerations in the context of other cultural factors or present Muslim women with specific challenges in seeking healthcare based on Islamic teachings or social constructs. This paper examines these factors by elaborating on an overview of Muslim interpretations of healthcare using religious authorities, text from the Qur’an, and social norms. It then delves into challenges faced by Muslim women in the US healthcare system and the implications of those challenges …

Breaking Barriers: The Influence Of Socioeconomic Status On Obesity Among Women In Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, Christina Camoriano

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Obesity in Brazil has grown rapidly within the past decade, however research is conflicting in terms of who carries the burden of this disease- the economic elite or the poor. Despite the lack of clarity towards the current distribution of obesity, many studies have come to the conclusion that in developing countries, obesity is growing more rapidly among those of lower socioeconomic status.¹¹ Therefore, the purpose of my research study is to examine how socioeconomic status influences the dietary and exercise habits of lower and lower-middle income women who are obese. This study is relevant because it seeks to …

Grant Application: Photovoice, Lilia Bottino, Collyn Baeder

Photovoice: A Visual Narrative Into The Lives Of Maine Refugee Women

IPEC Mini-grant application for funding of UNE student project Photovoice: A Visual Narrative into the Lives of Maine Refugee Women. Photovoice was proposed as a participatory action strategy which would provide Maine refugee women the opportunity to teach their community and policy makers about health and social issues they face. A UNE MSW student and MPH student sought to understand the barriers to health that Maine refugee women face. They proposed a project where participants would be given a camera to take photos of perceived health and social problems refugees face living in Maine. The photos would seek to …

Alcohol In The Life Narratives Of Women: Commonalities And Differences By Sexual Orientation, Laurie A. Drabble, K. Trocki

Faculty Publications

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore social representations of alcohol use among women, with a focus on possible differences between sexual minority and heterosexual women. Methods: This qualitative study was part of a larger study examining mediators of heavier drinking among sexual minority women (lesbian identified, bisexual identified, and heterosexual identified with same sex partners) compared to heterosexual women based on the National Alcohol Survey. Qualitative in-depth life history interviews were conducted over the telephone with 48 women who had participated in the 2009–2010 National Alcohol Survey, including respondents representing different sexual orientation groups. Questions explored the …

Agenda: 2012 Energy Justice Conference And Technology Exposition, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. Colorado European Union Center Of Excellence, University Of Colorado Boulder. Presidents Leadership Institute

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Co-sponsored with the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence and the Presidents Leadership Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The ability to harness energy is fundamental to economic and social development. Worldwide, almost 3 billion people have little or no access to beneficial energy resources for cooking, heating, water sanitation, illumination, transportation, or basic mechanical needs. Energy poverty exacerbates ill health and economic hardship, and reduces educational opportunities, particularly for women and children. Specifically, access to efficient and affordable energy services is a prerequisite for achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) relating to poverty eradication.

In response, the UN …

Reproductive Health For Afghan Women: Decreasing High Maternal Mortality Rates By Increasing Access To Reproductive Health And Education A Proposal For Advocacy And Change, Rosalia Abreu

The Trinity Papers (2011 - present)

This proposal examines the social, cultural, political and structural factors that contribute to high maternal mortality rates in Afghanistan and women’s severe lack of access to adequate health services and education, particularly in the more rural areas of the country. Some of the factors contributing to high maternal mortality rates are distance, lack of trained female doctors and nurses, lack of access to medical supplies, and Afghan cultural norms that require women to remain in the home and stigmatize being treated by male doctors, who are overwhelmingly represented in the medical profession. High illiteracy rates due to lack of access …

The Travels Of Our Bodies, Ourselves, Jane Pincus

New England Journal of Public Policy

The women’s health book, Our Bodies, Ourselves: A Book by and for Women, was first printed in 1970 by the small, radical New England Free Press. Published by the group of women soon too become the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, it was advertised solely by word of mouth. Successive newsprint editions reached a quarter of a million people in the United States through colleges and an extensive network of “underground” bookstores. The book placed female sexuality firmly within the framework of women’s health and combined vividly experienced medical encounters with available health and medical information. It critiqued prevailing cultural …

Update - March 2005, Loma Linda University Center For Christian Bioethics

Update

In this issue:

-- Review and Critique of Statements on Abuse and Family Violence
-- Seventh-day Adventist Statements on Women's Issues
-- Response to "A Statement on Women's Issues"
-- Seventh-day Adventist Statements on Abuse, A Statement on Abuse and Family Violence
-- Seventh-day Adventist Statements on Abuse, A Statement on Family Violence
-- Seventh-day Adventist Statements on Abuse, Statements on Child Sexual Abuse
-- Editorial

Women's Participation In Disaster Relief And Recovery, Ayse Yonder, Sengul Akcar, Prema Gopalan

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Too little attention has been given to the gender-differentiated effects of natural disasters, that is, women’s losses relative to men’s, how women’s work time and conditions change (both in terms of care-giving and income-generating work), or how disaster-related aid and entitlement programs include or marginalize affected women. The detailed case studies from three earthquake-stricken areas in India and Turkey that are contained in this issue of SEEDS help fill this information gap. They provide examples of how low-income women who have lost everything can form groups and become active participants in the relief and recovery process. Readers learn how women …

Econometric Analyses Of U.S. Abortion Policy: A Critical Review, Jonathan Klick

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Abortion Legalization On Sexual Behavior: Evidence From Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Jonathan Klick, Thomas Stratmann

All Faculty Scholarship

Unwanted pregnancy represents a major cost of sexual activity. When abortion was legalized in a number of states in 1969 and 1970 (and nationally in 1973), this cost was reduced. We predict that abortion legalization generated incentives leading to an increase in sexual activity, accompanied by an increase in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Using Centers for Disease Control data on the incidence of gonorrhea and syphilis by state, we test the hypothesis that abortion legalization led to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. We find that gonorrhea and syphilis incidences are significantly and positively correlated with abortion legalization. Further, we …

A Study Of The Factors That Impact Female Military Beneficiaries Obtaining Preventive Health Services, Cynthia Andrea Chargois

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine what factors predict whether female military retirees or the female beneficiary of a military retiree, ages 40 to 64, will obtain preventive health services, specifically, Pap smears, mammograms, and clinical breast examinations. Based on the findings of the study, it is suggested that it may be important for the Department of Defense to broaden their scope of interest to include those areas that are most prominent in affecting female military retirees or the female beneficiary of a military retiree, particularly those 40 to 64, in obtaining preventive health services.

The study comprised …

Impact Of Life Events, Trauma, Interpersonal Conflict And Substance Abuse On Pregnancy Outcomes Of Inner City Women, Barabara A. Caldwell

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Rubella Vaccine And Medical Policymaking: Fetal Rights And Women's Health, Jacob Heller

New England Journal of Public Policy

U.S. vaccine policies, to all appearances, are based on assumptions about cost effectiveness, safety, and public health needs. Analysis of the peer review health professions’ discourse about rubella vaccine between 1941 and 1999 challenges this view. There were four justifications for the development of the vaccine: (1) cost-benefit projections about vaccine use versus anticipated birth defects; (2) the desire to prevent “fetal wastage” by vaccinating women; (3) a professional imperative to ensure healthy babies; and (4) a bias among vocal vaccine advocates against “unnecessary” abortion. The role of a fifth consideration, the “cultural provenance” of vaccines for American medicine, though …

Disparities In The Health Care Status Of Women: Implications For Research, Marcia I. Wells-Lawson

Trotter Review

Even a cursory review of data on the health status of women reveals striking differences by race. According to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, death rates among Black women from the three leading causes of death (cardiac disease, cancer and cerebrovascular disease) exceed those of white, Asian, Native American and Latina women for each age category from 45-84. With the exception of Black women, the death rates among white women from these diseases exceed those of other ethnic groups of women. Data on two of the risk factors for cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases (hypertension and obesity), show …

Autonomy's Magic Wand: Abortion And Constitutional Interpretation, Anita L. Allen

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.