The pharmaceutical regulation of chronic disease among the U.S. urban poor: an ethnographic study of accountability

Many adults and children in the U.S. are not active enough to meet the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services guidelines for physical activity to maintain health and reduce the risk of chronic disease. Exergames (exercise video games) have the potential to promote physical activity, and researchers have examined ways for improving motivation to exercise for longer and at higher intensities with these types of games. This chapter considers group dynamics principles as one way to influence motivation within exergames to help realize better health outcomes. We illustrate how group dynamics principles can be applied to exergames and how different task structures within groups (e.g., conjunctive, additive, and coactive tasks) can influence motivation. One group dynamic principle, the Köhler motivation gain effect, has been the basis of a series of research studies that we have conducted within exergames. We summarize this research, discuss the issues, controversies, and problems with using group dynamics in exergames, and provide possible solutions and recommendations.

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Family and Family-Like Relations for Transnational Migrants: Ideals of Care Informed by Kin, Non-Family, and Religion

Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.1177/0739986320937435 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 42 (3) ◽

pp. 344-362

Author(s):

Elizabeth Bingham Thomas ◽

Carolyn Smith-Morris

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Family Formation ◽

Family Care ◽

Ethnographic Study ◽

Transnational Families ◽

Church Members ◽

Transnational Family ◽

Transnational Migrants ◽

Care Relationships ◽

The U.S

Studies of transnational family formation and care relationships suggest that, while family forms and care values are idealized, they are also negotiated, enacted, and fluid constructs. Strategies of resilience and mechanisms of flexible care achieved by transnational families are fine-tuned under multiple influences. Among these influences are well-known sources such as social networks, as well as less well-understood sources such as religious teachings. We report findings of a 4-month, ethnographic study among Latinx immigrants to the U.S. whose ( n = 14) narratives of family “care” reflect their ideals and simultaneously work to linguistically produce role continuity. Thematic results address three key strategies for achieving this continuity: (1) valuations of flexibility; (2) family-like care by non-family and church members; and (3) commitments to and reliance on new networks, particularly through church relations. We conclude by suggesting how family-like care, such as that from church relations, informs the flexible relational obligations, resources, resiliencies, and values of transnational migrants.

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Clientelism or Something Else? Squatter Politics in Montevideo

Latin American Politics and Society ◽

10.1111/j.1548-2456.2012.00142.x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 54 (1) ◽

pp. 37-63 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

María José Alvarez Rivadulla

Keyword(s):

Land Tenure ◽

Urban Poor ◽

Building Materials ◽

Ethnographic Study ◽

Right To The City ◽

Municipal Governments ◽

Face To Face ◽

Political Opportunities ◽

Political Networks ◽

The City

AbstractThrough the in-depth ethnographic study of one squatter neighborhood in Montevideo and its leader’s political networks, this article illustrates a successful strategy through which some squatter neighborhoods have fought for their right to the city. This consists of opportunistic, face-to-face relationships between squatter leaders and politicians of various factions and parties as intermediaries to get state goods, such as water, building materials, electricity, roads, and ultimately land tenure. Through this mechanism, squatters have seized political opportunities at the national and municipal levels. These opportunities were particularly high between 1989 and 2004, years of great competition for the votes of the urban poor on the periphery of the city, when the national and municipal governments belonged to opposing parties. In terms of theory, the article discusses current literature on clientelism, posing problems that make it difficult to characterize the political networks observed among squatters.

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Confronting The Growing Burden Of Chronic Disease: Can The U.S. Health Care Workforce Do The Job?

Health Affairs ◽

10.1377/hlthaff.28.1.64 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 64-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 345

Author(s):

Thomas Bodenheimer ◽

Ellen Chen ◽

Heather D. Bennett

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Chronic Disease ◽

Health Care Workforce ◽

The U.S

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Resilience of Gendered Spheres in Translational Migration: A Comparison of Two Cultures

The Qualitative Report ◽

10.46743/2160-3715/2011.1130 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Jose Calderon

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rican ◽

First Generation ◽

Participant Observation ◽

The United States ◽

Ethnographic Study ◽

Observation Methods ◽

The Us ◽

Cultural Mores ◽

And Gender ◽

The U.S

Sheba George's ethnographic study used participant-observation methods, purposive sampling, and an insider's transnational journey to examine changes in family and social roles that result when nurses from Kerala, India, immigrate to the United States ahead of their husbands. The author concludes that the economic and political gain immigration affords nurses does not translate into enhanced social status for their family in India nor for their husbands in the U.S. when they undergo a gender role transferal from primary breadwinner to homemaker whilst their wives pursue their nursing careers. In a key observation, the author emphasizes that this role transferal also caused shifts in gender structure within the U.S. Kerali community. The purpose of this paper is to offer a review of George's examination of resilience of patriarchal cultural mores and gender roles of Kerali "nurse husbands" in the U.S. and to cross-culturally compare their resilience to that of Puerto Rican men who were born and raised in Puerto Rico before migrating to the US mainland. This comparison is born of George's experience as a first-generation Kerali American and that of this reviewer as a first-generation Puerto Rican American.

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LEARNING THE “LANGUAGE” OF MOTHERHOOD AS INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENTS

Art/Research International A Transdisciplinary Journal ◽

10.18432/ari29539 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 309-344

Author(s):

Kuo Zhang

Keyword(s):

International Students ◽

Graduate Student ◽

Ethnographic Study ◽

Graduate Studies ◽

Poetic Inquiry ◽

Student Mothers ◽

International Graduate ◽

Embodied Language ◽

International Graduate Student ◽

The U.S

As international students seek degrees in U.S. institutions of higher education, their role as students is forefronted and recognizable by faculty and peers. However, what often remains invisible are international students' social and personal experiences during academic study abroad. Although there is a great deal of feminist research on academic identity and motherhood, almost nothing has been written regarding the experiences of international women who become mothers while pursuing graduate studies in the U.S. This poetic ethnographic study focuses on the lived experiences of eleven international graduate student first-time mothers from Chinese mainland and Taiwan who became new mothers during their programs of study in the U.S., especially how they kept learning their ongoing, dynamic, multifaceted, and embodied “language” of motherhood through various kinds of social interactions, and among divergent practices, beliefs, and cultures. This article explores how poetic inquiry can contribute to the understanding of international graduate student mothers’ experiences as a social, cultural, and educational phenomenon. This article also discusses the issues of ethics and self-reflexivity of conducting poetic inquiry research.

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Chronic Disease, the Built Environment, and Unequal Health Risks in the 500 Largest U.S. Cities

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17082961 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (8) ◽

pp. 2961

Author(s):

Kevin M. Fitzpatrick ◽

Don Willis

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Chronic Disease ◽

Built Environment ◽

Weight Status ◽

Housing Stock ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Census Tracts ◽

Cardiometabolic Diseases ◽

The U.S

Health is increasingly subject to the complex interplay between the built environment, population composition, and the structured inequity in access to health-related resources across communities. The primary objective of this paper was to examine cardiometabolic disease (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stroke) markers and their prevalence across relatively small geographic units in the 500 largest cities in the United States. Using data from the American Community Survey and the 500 Cities Project, the current study examined cardiometabolic diseases across 27,000+ census tracts in the 500 largest cities in the United States. Earlier works clearly show cardiometabolic diseases are not randomly distributed across the geography of the U.S., but rather concentrated primarily in Southern and Eastern regions of the U.S. Our results confirm that chronic disease is correlated with social and built environment factors. Specifically, racial concentration (%, Black), age concentration (% 65+), housing stock age, median home value, structural inequality (Gini index), and weight status (% overweight/obese) were consistent correlates (p < 0.01) of cardiometabolic diseases in the sample of census tracts. The paper examines policy-related features of the built and social environment and how they might play a role in shaping the health and well-being of America’s metropolises.

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Examining Health Behaviors of Chronic Disease Caregivers in the U.S.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.amepre.2021.07.004 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ekin Secinti ◽

Wei Wu ◽

Erin E. Kent ◽

Wendy Demark-Wahnefried ◽

Ashley B. Lewson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Disease ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

The U.S

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