Doctoral Dissertation Research: A mixed-methods study of vulnerability and social resilience

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The stress caused by resource scarcity is known to impact people's health. However, not all people and communities respond the same. In the research supported by this award, the researcher investigates the processes that produce these variable outcomes. Research in the United States and elsewhere has shown that multiple factors, at the community as well as the individual level, work together to produce health outcomes. Therefore, it is not surprising that policies that focus only on individual economic challenges may miss the positive and negative effects of community-level buffers already in place. This research project, which also trains a graduate student in the collection of empirical scientific data, seeks to answer the questions: How do communities respond to economic stress? How do communities buffer against it, and do these mechanisms unintentionally facilitate unhealthy behavior? The answers to these questions are of critical importance to U.S policy makers committed to improving local health outcomes.The research will be undertaken by Case Western Reserve University anthropology doctoral student, Megan M. Schmidt-Sane, under the supervision of Dr. Janet W. McGrath. The research will be conducted in two communities in Kampala, Uganda. Uganda was chosen for the research because recent changes in local government labor policies have put many people out of work. Therefore, because the researchers have access to baseline health data, the situation is a natural experiment in how people respond to sudden economic stress, how traditional buffering mechanisms are put into play, and whether these mechanisms prevent or increase poor health outcomes. The researcher will collect data over one year using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative anthropological methods, including: community censuses, surveys, in-depth interviews, and participant observation. These data will allow her to assess specific pathways between the larger socio-economic context, individuals, and risk, resilience, and vulnerability. Findings will facilitate integrating these concepts as well as scientific understanding of the mechanisms by which economic stress affects health. This can then become the basis for improved policy in the United States. Results will be disseminated widely in academic and public health settings, providing insight into the factors that are simultaneously resilient and vulnerable, and the potential pathways to resilience.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.