Dissertation Research: Use of Services and Political Identity on the West Bank

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This project involves the dissertation research of a student from Emory University. The student will study how Palestinian people living in the West Bank use the health care facilities made available to them by political organizations such as Hamas, the PLO, and the PFLP. The project will test the hypothesis that people's political identities influence their selection of health facility to use. Patients, administrators, doctors and health care providers in 4 clinics will be interviewed, clinic practices and dynamics will be observed and health decisions of individual families will be followed. This research is important because the middle east is a source of significant political tension and change in the world. The project will advance our understanding of the relation between nationalism, political ideology and health. By studying the complex decisions and behavior of people who are balancing health needs, economic and social constraints and political ideology and identity, the study will advance our understanding of the importance of politics in this region. A practical benefit of the project is that the insights learned about health care will be available to planners in the middle east as well as in similar regions of developing countries.