Researchers Receive Grant from National Center for Institutional Diversity
Two University of Michigan School of Public Health researchers, along with their student
collaborators, have received Grants to Support Social Research and Scholarship for Change from the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan.
Melissa Creary, assistant professor of health management and policy, and Tori Lawson, MPH candidate in health behavior and health education, are leading a research project called Citizenship, Social Exclusion, and Trust: The Differentiated Lives of Sickle Cell Disease. Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects approximately 25 million people globally, with an estimated 100,000 cases in the US. However, the provision of coordinated care through a modern health care delivery system hasn’t evolved to respond to complex genetic diseases like SCD. This uneven availability and utilization of health care is influenced by the entanglement of biology, culture, race, and trust, which are elucidated through the framework of biocultural citizenship. This preliminary pilot study will employ a mixed-methods approach to illuminate how trust in the health care system and notions of citizenship intersect for vulnerable citizens living in the US.
Paul Fleming, assistant professor of health behavior and health education, and Aresha Martinez-Cardoso, PhD candidate in health behavior and health education, are leading a research project called Immigrant Youth Voices: Youth Participatory Action Research in Washtenaw County. Latino youth from immigrant families are a growing segment in Washtenaw County, yet they have few opportunities in the community to engage in culturally congruent positive youth development programs. This project will pilot Immigrant Youth Voices, a youth participatory action research project, with Latino youth in Washtenaw County. The project works in partnership with the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights (WICIR) Teen Group. Through Immigrant Youth Voices, Latino youth will develop research tools to identify health inequities in their community and lead an action research project to promote social change.
Hannah Mesa, master's degree candidate in public health and social work, and Cristina Alaniz, bachelor's degree candidate in community and global public health, are also involved in the project.
