Sociology of Health
I take an applied approach to the sociology of health recognizing that the greatest gains to be made in increasing both longevity and vitality in the future will be made by addressing structural-behavioral factors with a preventative focus rather than the current model which addresses only the medical and clinical side of things. In my approach, patient access and adherence from the clinicians standpoint are intimately tied to issues of economic and racial stratification. At the neighborhood level, we have clear understanding of how the social determinants of health affect both the frequency and acuity of contracting disease and illness.
The biggest project I’m working on toward that end involves a comprehensive approach to reducing school readiness vulnerabilities. This project has multiple components. I’m the project lead on the component addressing neighborhood and environmental factors. Utilizing a Participatory Action Research process with several community organizers, we are collaborating with residents to improve the health, safety and community of the neighborhoods so school children will have a safe and positive environment in which to achieve personal and community goals.
Within this larger neighborhood, I’m also working on a project examining the impacts of relationships on mental health. Good Neighbors Make Good Fences, is ultimately a collaborative, interdisciplinary project investigating issues of community support and quality of life outcomes in Habitat for Humanity neighborhoods. This project will extend sociological and other disciplinary insights to an important local issue which is currently uninvestigated. Providing quality housing is certainly a key step in changing the lives of the chronically underhoused, but the ramifications of such a change in life circumstances is still unclear. While we might know that quality housing improves lives, we do not know yet how or to what extent. Additionally, it is unclear if the social capital deficits accumulated prior to obtaining adequate housing are offset or augmented by living in a neighborhood of people with similar backgrounds in similar circumstances. Examining this within the paradigm of the social determinants of health allows one to take a more structural approach to health outcomes and focus on developing strategies that will result in more and better health for marginalized populations. This project offers multiple areas of inquiry for students to pursue individual interests while contributing to the overall research question. Utilizing a significant competitive grant, I have been able to offer opportunities for students to be intimately involved in this research as co-collaborators. Students are involved in all aspects from training in specific research methods to the final products of presentations, papers and summaries for local officials.
In a similar vein, my work at the Wichita Falls Family Practice Clinic Residency Program, a low-income clinic, has enabled me to work on the same concerns from a clinical perspective. Working with Dr. Carlston, a psychologist, we have begun to explore the ways that race and barriers to communication affect adherence to treatment utilizing unprecedented access to implement a three stage research design where we interview patients prior to their visit, immediately afterward and then again with a follow-up consultation. This project relies heavily on students to help conduct the research and with data analysis.
