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- All Subjects: public health
- Creators: Wutich, Amber
Sixty-three study participants (43 women and 20 men) were interviewed about their experiences. Interviewers elicited barriers to care, facilitators of care, and questions about the attitudes and behaviors of family and community members were in structured interviews.
The study found that breast problems and their treatment put significant resource and emotional strains on the family. Furthermore, over a third of women in this study reported abuse of some kind, with emotional abuse, neglect, and abandonment being the most frequently reported.
The study reinforced barriers to care identified in the literature for South Asian populations, but only a quarter of participants reported stigma of any kind. Lack of knowledge about breast cancer and inability to pay for care were the most frequently reported barriers, followed by access to care and fear of treatment. Facilitators of care among women who received a biopsy point to the importance of support by the husband and husband’s family, as well as the ability to identify economic support for and knowledge about care.
This study contributes to the understanding of two overarching themes: structural violence and the value of women, as well as how these themes influence poor outcomes for women with breast cancer in rural Bangladesh. Suggestions for future studies and short and long-term interventions to address study findings are offered.
To analyze the underlying dynamics of this issue, this dissertation empirically examines the individual, institutional and social factors which enable or affect the career choices of Pakistani women doctors. Based on the ethnographic data obtained from in-depth, person centered, open ended interviews with sixty women doctors and their families, as well as policy makers and the stake holders in medical education and health administration in Lahore, Pakistan this dissertation seeks to address the complex issues of empowerment and agency in the context of Pakistani women, both in individual and collective sense.
Participation in medical education is ostensibly an empowering act, but dissecting the social relations in which this decision takes place reveals that becoming a doctor actually enmeshes women further in the disciplinary relations within their families and society. Similarly, the medical workplaces of Pakistan are marked by entrenched gendered hierarchies constraining women’s access to resources and their progression through medical career. Finally, the political implications of defining work in medicine, and devaluing care in capitalist economies is explored.
"It's Always A Part Of You and Aloha ʻĀina": Sacred Spaces and Indigenous/Aboriginal People’s Health
Background: Indigenous/Aboriginal People (IAP) since the beginning of colonization have fought for their inherent rights to follow their way of life. They continue to face mistreatment for their beliefs and on the sacred spaces that are apart of them. The purpose of this dissertation is to share how the desecration of sacred spaces impacts Indigenous/Aboriginal Peoples’ health. Two research studies were designed to better understand how Indigenous/Aboriginal Peoples’ health is affected when their sacred spaces are desecrated. Methods: The first research study was conducted in Arizona, and Hawaiʻi with eight participants who are members of American Indian nations and Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian). The first study focused on sacred spaces in general, with some additional focus on the San Francisco Peaks (Nuvtukya’ovi in Hopi) and Mauna A Wākea. The second study was conducted virtually with seven Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) and focused solely on Mauna a Wākea. Qualitative data collection was through key informant interviews. Qualitative data analysis centered on a thematic analysis characterizing sacred spaces, and the ways in which participants explained how different forms of sacred space desecration impact IAP health. The analysis included the relationship IAP have with sacred spaces, and how their health is connected to sacred spaces. Results: The first qualitative study found that desecrating sacred spaces negatively impacts Indigenous/Aboriginal Peoples’ cultural identity and health. The second study found that participants are connected to sacred spaces, including having a loving relationship with and responsibility to sacred spaces. Conclusions: The conclusions from the study show that Indigenous/Aboriginal Peoples’ health is negatively impacted when their sacred spaces are desecrated, because their relationship to the sacred space is a part of their cultural identity. IAP’s relationship with sacred spaces is one filled with love and the responsibility to care for them. Sacred spaces also heal and maintain IAP health. For the future public health implications, laws and policies need to be upheld and created to protect IAP’s health rights and their sacred spaces.