Browsing by Author "Hunter, Kelly"
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Item Open Access Examining Health Care Access for Refugee Children and Families in the North Carolina Triangle Area.(North Carolina medical journal, 2020-11) Hunter, Kelly; Knettel, Brandon; Reisinger, Deborah; Ganapathy, Pranav; Lian, Tyler; Wong, Jake; Mayorga-Young, Danielle; Zhou, Ailing; Elnagheeb, Maram; McGovern, Melissa; Thielman, Nathan; Whetten, Kathryn; Esmaili, EmilyBACKGROUND Resettled refugees are at increased risk of poor health outcomes due to acculturation challenges, logistical barriers, experiences of trauma, and other barriers to care that are poorly understood. Refugee children may be particularly vulnerable due to disruptions in health, well-being, education, and nutrition during the resettlement process.METHOD To describe the health care barriers facing refugees in the North Carolina Triangle area (comprised of Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and their surrounding areas), we conducted three focus group interviews (in Arabic, French, and Swahili) with 25 refugee parents from Syria, Iraq, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Chad. We also administered a survey to nine organizations that provide services for refugees.RESULTS Focus group responses highlighted the multidimensional nature of health care barriers for refugee families and children, encompassing challenges with acculturation, communication, transportation, finances, and health literacy. Organizations emphasized similar challenges and described their efforts to improve access to services through increased communication, coordination, and seeking new financial support for programs.LIMITATIONS Given the geographic focus of the study, results may not be generalizable to other populations and settings. Men spoke more than women in some focus groups, and participants may have been influenced by more vocal contributors. Furthermore, this study is limited by a lack of health outcomes data.CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that the health care needs of refugees living in the North Carolina Triangle area can be better met by providing comprehensive, coordinated, and culturally relevant care. This could include minimizing the number of visits by integrating multiple services under one roof, providing trauma-informed interpreters, and offering accessible transportation services.Item Open Access “If you don’t help me, I’m going to take my life”: the devastating impact of the US’s global gag rule and the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s sexual and reproductive health in Kenya(International Feminist Journal of Politics, 2021-03-15) Hunter, Kelly; Hubner, Sarah; Kuczura, EmaItem Open Access The Political Economy of Gender in Global Health: How International Actors Shape Women’s Outcomes(2023) Hunter, KellyThis dissertation investigates the politics of global health and how international actors shape women’s outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Using a three-paper model, it consists of three separate studies that highlight the interconnectedness of gender, health, and international politics. The first paper explores the spillover effects of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) implemented in Migori, Kenya in support of the World Health Organization’s cervical cancer elimination strategy. An original follow-up survey was administered to women living in the intervention and control villages to understand the RCT’s impact on non-medical outcomes. The second paper focuses on the international politics of foreign aid for family planning and demonstrates that a country’s response to dynamics within the international arena can determine how and why countries choose to contribute to policies that target women. Specifically, it investigates the international response when the United States, the largest aid donor, withdraws funding for family planning through its Mexico City Policy, better known as the “global gag rule.” The third paper looks at foreign aid termination more broadly, and how the use of this sanction instrument by the United Nations, United States, and European Union affects women’s health and safety in the target countries. These papers employ quantitative methods on a variety of data sources, ranging from original survey data collected in rural, western Kenya, to observational data on a range of indicators for multiple countries. Taken together, these studies show that women in low- and middle-income countries are subjected to consequences that stem from the political actions of international players.