International Public Health Commons^™

‘Because I Don’T Know’: Uncertainty And Ambiguity In Closed-Ended Reports Of Perceived Discrimination In Us Health Care, Chih-Yuan Lee, Amy Irby-Shasanmi

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Objective

Surveys often ask respondents to assess discrimination in health care. Yet, patients’ responses to one type of widely used measure of discrimination (single-item, personally mediated) tend to reveal prevalence rates lower than observational studies would suggest. This study examines the meaning behind respondents’ closed-ended self-reports on this specific type of measure, paying special attention to the frameworks and references used within the medical setting.

Design

Twenty-nine respondents participated in this study. They were asked the widely used question: ‘Within the past 12 months when seeking health care do you feel your experiences were worse than, the same as, or …

Cultural Definitions Of Health Care: A Case Study Of Burmese Refugees, Marielena Rose White

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

As a result of ongoing civil war and civil unrest in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, every year the United States accepts increasing numbers of refugees from Burma of which there is a population of significance within the greater Indianapolis area. When considering options for health care, Burmese refugees may opt for self care as opposed to care from a health care professional as a result of clashing cultural factors or fears of the unknown.

This study aims to uncover how members of the Chin ethnic group have been challenged or confronted by the social, cultural, and political institutions …

A Medical Mission: Healing Wounds, Improving Health, And Discovering Hope In Honduras, Michaela Maynard

Senior Honors Projects

According to the United Nations, less than one-sixth of the world’s population is made up of the industrialized world. In contrast, the developing world, consisting of approximately 125 low and middle-income countries, is home to about 5.1 billion people. It is in these developing counties that there is an insatiable need for improved public health. In January of 2007, I spent a week working in a medical clinic in Guaimaca, Honduras. I witnessed first hand the suffering, poverty, and injustice of one small town. Yet, what struck me the most was that despite the hardships and the lack of basic …