Depression and Perspectives of Nigerian Immigrant Men in the United States: An Applied Ethnographic Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ifeoma E. Ezeobele ◽  
Chukwudi C. Ekwemalor ◽  
Anderson Ogunbor

Introduction: Depression is among the most serious health problems experienced by immigrants. Research has not sufficiently explored the perspectives of immigrant men from male-dominant cultures on depression. The purpose of this study was to describe the perspectives of Nigerian immigrant men in the United States on depression and to determine whether their perceptions differ from those of their female counterparts of a previous study. Method: Focused applied ethnography was used to explore the perspectives of a purposeful sample of 18 Nigerian immigrant men in Houston, Texas, and analyze the data using a thematic approach. Results: The overarching theme was, “Depression does not exist in the Nigerian culture.” The participants denied the existence of depression. Gender differences were not noted in their perception of depression. Discussion: The participants perceived depression differently from the U.S. dominant culture and may not receive adequate screening or treatment for depression, supporting the extant call for recognition of cultural differences in health care.

Author(s):  
Julia Lynch

The welfare system in the United States is not simply “small,”“residualist,” or “laggard.” It is true that protection against standard social risks is generally less comprehensive and less generous in the United States than in other rich democracies, but there are other important differences as well: The U. S. welfare state is unusual in its extensive reliance on private markets to produce public social goods; its geographic variability; its insistence on deservingness as an eligibility criterion; and its orientation toward benefits for the elderly rather than children and working-age adults. Nevertheless, the U.S. welfare state is not sui generis. The actors involved in the construction of the U.S. welfare state, the institutions created in response to social problems, and the contemporary pressures confronting the welfare state all have parallels in other countries. The markets that provide so many social goods in the United States are the products of state action and state regulation, and hence should really be thought of as part of the welfare “state.” Even recent expansions to the welfare state in the United States have, with the partial exception of health-care reform, reinforced old patterns of elderly oriented spending and benefits for worthy (working) adults. In order for the U.S. welfare state to adjust successfully to ensure against new social risks, it must focus more on underdeveloped program areas like health care, child care, early childhood education, and vocational training.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-368
Author(s):  
Barbara S. deRose

Introduction: Alarming increases in childhood disease outbreaks present particular threats to children of immigrants in the United States. The researcher explores issues Latino immigrants experience when vaccinating their children in U.S. health care system. Methodology: A purposive sample of 11 Latino immigrants who sought immunizations for their foreign-born children during their first 5 years in the United States was obtained. Interview questions, probes, and data collection methods were based on interpretive phenomenology. Results: Trust issues emerged as the main theme from the Latino immigrants’ perspective based on interactions with the health care system: trusting themselves as parents to vaccinate children, trusting/mistrusting the U.S. health care providers/facilities, and mistrusting the U.S. health care system. Discussion: The researcher reports disparities in access to health care within a family unit. Parental distress results when Latino immigrants experience health care disparities between U.S.-born and foreign-born children. This can be mitigated by making vaccination practices and health care policies consistent.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph White

AbstractThis article describes and analyzes the U.S. health care legislation of 2010 by asking how far it was designed to move the U.S. system in the direction of practices in all other rich democracies. The enacted U.S. reform could be described, extremely roughly, as Japanese pooling with Swiss and American problems at American prices. Its policies are distinctive, yet nevertheless somewhat similar to examples in other rich democracies, on two important dimensions: how risks are pooled and the amount of funds redistributed to subsidize care for people with lower incomes. Policies about compelling people to contribute to a finance system would be further from international norms, as would the degree to which coverage is set by clear and common substantive standards – that is, standardization of benefits. The reform would do least, however, to move the United States toward international practices for controlling spending. This in turn is a major reason why the results would include less standard benefits and incomplete coverage. In short, the United States would remain an outlier on coverage less because of a failure to make an effort to redistribute – a lack of solidarity – than due to a failure to control costs.


2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Skala

The collapse of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Doha Round of talks without achieving new health services liberalization presents an important opportunity to evaluate the wisdom of granting further concessions to international investors in the health sector. The continuing deterioration of the U.S. health system and the primacy of reform as an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign make clear the need for a full range of policy options for addressing the national health crisis. Yet few commentators or policymakers realize that existing WTO health care commitments may already significantly constrain domestic policy options. This article illustrates these constraints through an evaluation of the potential effects of current WTO law and jurisprudence on the implementation of a single-payer national health insurance system in the United States, proposed incremental national and state health system reforms, the privatization of Medicare, and other prominent health system issues. The author concludes with some recommendations to the U.S. Trade Representative to suspend existing liberalization commitments in the health sector and to interpret current and future international trade treaties in a manner consistent with civilized notions of health care as a universal human right.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 1447-1460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anahí Viladrich

Based on a systematic qualitative analysis of articles published by The New York Times (2009–2017), this article presents the main media frames that support the access to government-sponsored health care by undocumented immigrants, just before and after passage of the U.S. Affordable Care Act in 2010. Under the umbrella of “selective inclusion,” this study highlights a “compassionate frame” that conveys sympathy toward severely ill, undocumented immigrants. This approach is reinforced by a “cost-control” frame that underlines the economic benefits of providing health care to the undocumented immigrant population in the United States. Supported by both humane and market-based approaches, these frames make a compelling case for the inclusion of particular groups into the U.S. health care safety net. Ultimately, these findings contribute to our understanding of the media framing of undocumented immigrants’ right to health care on the basis of deservingness.


2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (12) ◽  
pp. 1589-1605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esra Ugur ◽  
Cindy A. Scherb ◽  
Janet P. Specht ◽  
Sevim Sen ◽  
Lydia K. Lazzara

The purpose of this descriptive comparative study is to compare the levels of decisional involvement of staff nurses between one Midwestern health care system in the United States with a nongovernmental University hospital in Turkey. The Decisional Involvement Scale was used for data collection. U.S. ( n = 163) and Turkey ( n = 50) staff nurses were included in the study. Both samples preferred more decisional involvement than they currently experienced. However, Turkish nurses experienced and preferred lower levels of decisional involvement than the U.S. sample. Shared governance structures may be a strategy used to enhance staff nurse decisional involvement.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
BAOGUANG WANG ◽  
Sherry T. Liu ◽  
Brian Rostron ◽  
Camille Hayslett

Abstract Background: United States (U.S.) national data indicate that 2,035 individuals with burn injuries from e-cigarette explosions presented to U.S. hospital emergency departments (EDs) in 2015-2017. This national estimate is valuable for understanding the burden of burn injuries from e-cigarette explosions among individuals who presented to EDs. However, little is known about individuals who experienced e-cigarette-related burns but may not present to EDs or health care facilities.Findings: We analyzed data from the National Poison Data System (NPDS) to describe frequency and characteristics of e-cigarette-related burn cases in the U.S. in 2010-2019. NPDS contains information collected during telephone calls to poison control centers (PCCs) across the U.S., including e-cigarette-related burns and other unintended events. During 2010-2019, 19,306 exposure cases involving e-cigarettes were documented in NPDS. Of those, 69 were burn cases. The number of burn cases increased from one in 2011 to a peak of 26 in 2016, then decreased to three in 2019. The majority of the burn cases occurred among young adults aged 18-24 years (29.0%; n=20) and adults aged 25 years or older (43.5%; n=30); 14.4% occurred among individuals ≤ 17 years old. Of the 69 burn cases, 5.8% (n=4) were admitted to a hospital; 65.2% (n=45) were treated and released; 15.9 % (n=11) were not referred to a health care facility (HCF); 4.4% (n=3) refused referral or did not arrive at an HCF; and 8.7% (n=6) were lost to follow-up or left the HCF against medical advice. Nearly one-third (30.4%; n=21) of the cases had a minor effect (symptoms resolved quickly), 47.8% (n=33) had a moderate effect (symptoms were more pronounced and prolonged than in minor cases, but not life-threatening), and 2.9% (n=2) had a major effect (life-threatening symptoms).Conclusions: Approximately one-fifth of e-cigarette-related burn cases reported to PCCs were not referred to or did not arrive at an HCF. Some burn cases had serious medical outcomes. The burn cases mostly affected young adults and adults aged 25 years or older. The number of burn cases in NPDS represents a small portion of e-cigarette-related burn cases but it can serve as a complementary data source to traditional injury surveillance systems.


Author(s):  
Martha M. Bleeker

Adolescents are the fastest growing segment of computer and Internet users, reporting heavier use than their parents (Lenhart, Madden & Hitlin, 2005). Though the popularity of technology continues to flourish and drive the American economy, recent studies suggest that the revolution may be leaving females behind at later ages (Cooper & Weaver, 2003; McDonald, 2004). Employment data from the United States (U.S.) Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the U.S. high-tech computer industry employs nearly 5 million workers, making it one of the nation’s largest and most lucrative industries. Yet the number of women earning computer science degrees in the U.S. has plummeted over the past two decades, causing women to be vastly underrepre-sented in the information technology (IT) workforce (McDonald, 2004; National Science Foundation, 2004).


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 110-112
Author(s):  
Rosemary Gibson

The U.S. health care system is becoming increasingly dependent on China for medicines because it is the dominant world supplier of the ingredients needed to make thousands of medicines distributed to hospitals, pharmacies, and military hospitals. The United States is so dependent that if China stopped supplying ingredients, pharmacy shelves would be empty within months. The Food and Drug Administration is in the unenviable position of making tradeoffs between assuring high standards that Americans have come to expect and preventing drug shortages.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document