Doctoral Dissertation Research: Socio-demographic variation in experiences of maternal healthcare in relation to conceptions of health crisis

在上个世纪，孕产妇死亡率显著下降，但变化仍然很大，影响了人们对孕产妇保健的理解和体验。重要的研究揭示了诸如接近医疗保健和社会经济地位等因素如何影响孕产妇健康。然而，产妇特征与许多其他社会学变量和历史交叉，影响她们如何使用和体验产妇保健。本博士论文研究调查了产妇保健危机概念的变化如何影响妇女如何与主流和替代形式的保健相交。它在科学文化人类学理论和方法方面培养研究生，并向学术和政策受众广泛传播研究成果。研究人员调查了临床医生和患者如何理解孕产妇健康危机的概念，以及这如何影响护理的提供和经验。通过访谈和参与观察，研究者询问：个体因素如何交叉影响患者体验；临床医生对危机的理解如何影响孕产妇保健；以及患者和临床医生的经验如何在形成孕产妇健康结果方面相互影响。该项目响应了最近的呼吁，即调查公共卫生观念如何与推动母亲健康和福利的患者经验相结合。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Maternal mortality has decreased significantly over the last century, yet remains highly variable, impacting how people understand and experience maternal healthcare. Significant research has shed light on how factors such as proximity to healthcare and socioeconomic status impact maternal health. Yet, maternal characteristics intersect with numerous other sociological variables and histories to impact how they use and experience maternal healthcare. This doctoral dissertation research investigates how variation in concepts of maternal health crises affects how women intersect with mainstream and alternative forms of healthcare. It trains a graduate student in scientific cultural anthropology theory and methods and disseminates findings broadly to academic and policy audiences. The researcher investigates how clinicians and patients understand concepts of maternal health crises and how this impacts delivery of and experiences of care. Using interviews and participant observation, the investigator asks: how individual factors intersect to affect patient experiences; how clinicians’ understandings of crises impact maternal healthcare; and how patient and clinician experiences intersect in shaping maternal health outcomes. The project is responsive to recent calls to investigate how perceptions of public health articulate with patient experiences in driving health and welfare among mothers.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.