Anthropology

• Cultural Competency Training for Health Care Providers: An Evaluative Study

This ongoing study is an evaluation of a cultural competency training workshop for health care providers. The workshop focuses on examining the role culture plays in health care delivery and utilization. The intended use of the evaluation is to learn participants' opinions and usefulness of the information presented at the workshop. I plan to use the results to design better training modules and to apply for external funding for research on measurable outcomes of cultural competency.

• Health Literacy in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD): Phase I

This ongoing study investigates the level of health literacy in new ESRD patients participating in PreRenal Education Program (PrEP) training at the Samaritan Dialysis Services center. The specific aims of the study are to:

1. assess the level of health literacy in PrEP participants by using S-TOFHLA (Short version of the Test of Functional Literacy in Adults);

2. collect relevant demographic and socio-economic data on patients participating in PrEP; and

3. collect and analyze patient feedback on the relevance of PrEP curriculum educating the patient about ESRD management and treatment.

The long-term goal of the study (Phase II) is to test different versions of PrEP curriculum and education materials for their effectiveness in improving the knowledge and health status of ESRD patients. Based on the results of Phase I investigation, we plan to submit application for additional funds to measure the effectiveness of appropriately worded information at the correct reading level on the concrete changes in treatment and/or disease progression in dialysis patients.

• Cultural Competency for Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs)

The purpose of the study is to assess whether cultural competency training measurably improves patient-provider communication and reduces health disparities. The study answers the following specific questions:

1. Does cultural competency training of Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) result in improved knowledge, attitudes, and skills relating to the care of patients from diverse backgrounds?
2. Does cultural competency training of CNMs result in improved pre and perinatal health outcomes among mothers and children under their care?
3. Does cultural competency training of CNMs result in reduced perceptions of discrimination among their patients?
4. The study will use data from three sources - self-reported changes in knowledge, attitudes, and skills among CNMs as assessed through a tested and validated post-then-pre outcomes survey; pre and perinatal health outcomes of CNMs' patients; and experiences and opinions of CNMs' patients as assessed by exit interviews.

• Son Preference and New Reproductive Technologies in Urban India

This ethnographic study examines the use of New Reproductive Technologies (NRTs) in two middle-income but culturally distinct regional groups in India, one North Indian and the other South Indian. The two groups are considered in the literature to be two extremes in the socio-cultural spectrum underlying son preference, but have never been explicitly contrasted on the basis of ethnographic data. The study will answer the following research question from a cross-cultural comparative perspective -- How urban experience, exposure to and acceptance of state-sponsored family planning policies, and increased availability of NRTs and abortion services cause convergence of previously distinct kinship regimes and family organization in two socio-economically similar but culturally distinct communities, leading to a similarity in preference for male children, and means taken to realize their preference?