EPI222_WTR16: week 10 hw

After reading the article by Thomas et al., comment on where your research, or your research interests, fit into the generational framework for health disparities research. If your work is 1rst or 2^nd generation, comment on how your work could lead in the future to 3^rd or 4^th generation work. If your work is 3^rd or 4^th generation, comment on what 1rst and 2^nd generation work was necessary as a foundation for your current work (or current interests).

When going to doctor’s visits with my mom, we both have often left the hospital confused and have taken home with us several unanswered questions. When mom has asked a question, its often been met with a very detailed answer that she doesn’t understand because of the convoluted language. So I am passionate about finding an effective way for medical care practitioners to teach science to patients so that they understand. In other words, how can medicine speak the language of the common people? My current research project is using the 5E model, an evidence-based instructional model, to teach Spanish-speaking patients in the Mission district about health. I am also passionate about involving my community in all aspects of research, so they will dictate the topic of this health “charlas (workshops)” and we will train them in the 5E model and health so that they can, in the future give these charlas themselves to the rest of the community. My work is 2^nd and 3^rd generation as we are trying to find an effective intervention method. A lot of research identifying the difference in in medical care has already been done and the one that stands out to me the most is implicit bias and how doctors give different medical care when not aware of it.

The barbershop hypertension intervention, while essentially a clinical services intervention operating at either the fence or safety-net level as described by Jones, has some engagement with the social determinants of health. What aspects of this program might be generalizable to other areas of health? How might this apply to your area of research?

Barbershop hypertension intervention might be most generalizable to community based participatory research projects where a partnership is built with the community in order to better their health. This approach to research is particularly important in traditionally underserved communities to bridge the mistrust gap between the scientist and the community. This applies to my research as I am also planning on having deep community involvement throughout the project by having them dictate the topic of our health charlas and also providing training in so that they too can give health charlas to the rest of the community

Re: week 10 hw

by Christine Dehlendorf - Thursday, March 10, 2016, 11:39 AM

Your experience is a powerful example of how much farther we have to go to ensure that health services meet people's needs. Your work with the community is important intervention work to disseminate health information, and I think could also be used to promote empowerment in the health encounter. Some work has been done, for example, around how to empower patients to ask question of their providers or to ensure that their priorities in the visit are addressed. I am not aware of whether this has been done particularly with respect to disparities and non-English speaking patients, but it would be interesting to see. I imagine Alicia Fernandez, who gave our health care disparities lecture, might have some insight into this if you are interested.

Your work with charlas does draw on many of the same strengths as the barbershop intervention, although I would argue you are taking a far more community empowerment/engagement approach, and therefore will have a deeper understanding of the needs of the community.