Browsing by Author "Coe, Kathryn"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 16
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    Ancestor Worship and the Longevity of Chinese Civilization
    (Brill, 2016) Coe, Kathryn; Begley, Ryan O.; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    Although an impressive body of literature is devoted to the practice of venerating ancestors in China and other places, there is little agreement on what ancestor worship is, where it is practiced, and whether it is an ancient and persistent trait. Ancestor worship, we argue, is an ancient trait that has persisted in China, as in other parts of the world, since prehistoric times. We also discuss its universal aspects, including those associated with teaching it and with encouraging its persistence across generations. We end by discussing the function of ancestor worship in China. Has it been an impediment to progress, as Christian missionaries and communists insisted, or, as Ping-Ti Ho claimed, has it promoted the “longevity of Chinese civilization”? We argue that both claims may be correct, depending on the definition of progress and the characteristics associated with China’s two forms of ancestor worship.
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    Can Science lead us to a Definition of Art?
    (Firenze University Press, 2013) Coe, Kathryn; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    For approximately two thousand years, human thinkers have been attempting to define a behaviour, referred to as art, that humans have been practicing for tens of thousands of years. Defining this term has proved to be so difficult that Munro (1949: 5) to claim that the arts “are too intangible and changing to be defined or classified.” In this paper a 12-property cluster theory proposed by Denis Dutton is critically evaluated not in light of how well it fits with current thinking in aesthetics, but in light of its scientific strength and its usefulness for examining art across cultures.
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    Cultural Relevance of the Transtheoretical Model in Activity Promotion: Mexican-American Women’s use of the Process of Change
    (Digital Scholarship@UNLV, 2017) Benitez, Tanya J.; Tasevska, Natasha; Coe, Kathryn; Keller, Coleen; Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health
    Hispanic women in the U.S. have disproportionately high rates of obesity and health disparities related to insufficient physical activity (PA). While the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) is one of the most commonly used behavioral theories in interventions promoting PA, there is a lack of evidence to support the cultural relevance of theoretical constructs for increasing PA in Hispanic women. To learn about Hispanic women’s use and interpretation of the construct Processes of Change (POC) for increasing PA, we conducted focus groups with overweight/obese Mexican/Mexican-American females (N=13) ages 27-40 years. Major themes centered on the importance of children and family caretaking, social support, and PA to promote weight loss. Participants identified strategies they use to enact the POC for increasing PA such as retos (challenges), exercise as an alternative to eating, and clothing as a reward/reminder for PA. This study examined culture-specific factors used by Mexican-American women for becoming more physically active as they correspond to the theoretical constructs of the TTM. We showed that the POC examined in our study are culturally relevant and enacted by Mexican- American women for increasing PA, and are poised to be deployed in culturally appropriate PA promotion and weight loss interventions.
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    The Enigma of the Stigma of Hair Loss: Why is Cancer-Treatment Related Alopecia so Traumatic for Women?
    (2013-09) Coe, Kathryn; Staten, Lisa K.; Rosales, Cecilia; Swanson, Marie
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    Factors influencing performance by contracted non-state providers implementing a basic package of health services in Afghanistan
    (Biomed Central, 2018-10-05) Salehi, Ahmad Shah; Saljuqi, Abdul Tawab Kawa; Akseer, Nadia; Rao, Krishna; Coe, Kathryn; Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health
    BACKGROUND: In 2002 Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and its development partners initiated a new paradigm for the health sector by electing to Contract-Out (CO) the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) to non-state providers (NSPs). This model is generally regarded as successful, but literature is scarce that examines the motivations underlying implementation and factors influencing program success. This paper uses relevant theories and qualitative data to describe how and why contracting out delivery of primary health care services to NSPs has been effective. The main aim of this study was to assess the contextual, institutional, and contractual factors that influenced the performance of NSPs delivering the BPHS in Afghanistan. METHODS: The qualitative study design involved individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions conducted in six provinces of Afghanistan, as well as a desk review. The framework for assessing key factors of the contracting mechanism proposed by Liu et al. was utilized in the design, data collection and data analysis. RESULTS: While some contextual factors facilitated the CO (e.g. MoPH leadership, NSP innovation and community participation), harsh geography, political interference and insecurity in some provinces had negative effects. Contractual factors, such as effective input and output management, guided health service delivery. Institutional factors were important; management capacity of contracted NSPs affects their ability to deliver outcomes. Effective human resources and pharmaceutical management were notable elements that contributed to the successful delivery of the BPHS. The contextual, contractual and institutional factors interacted with each other. CONCLUSION: Three sets of factors influenced the implementation of the BPHS: contextual, contractual and institutional. The MoPH should consider all of these factors when contracting out the BPHS and other functions to NSPs. Other fragile states and countries emerging from a period of conflict could learn from Afghanistan's example in contracting out primary health care services, keeping in mind that generic or universal contracting policies might not work in all geographical areas within a country or between countries.
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    Hair As a Barrier to Physical Activity among African American Women: A Qualitative Exploration
    (Frontiers Media, 2018) Joseph, Rodney P.; Coe, Kathryn; Ainsworth, Barbara E.; Hooker, Steven P.; Mathis, LaTanya; Keller, Colleen; Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health
    Background. African American (AA) women face unique sociocultural barriers to physical activity (PA) engagement. Such barriers may contribute to their low PA levels and high cardiometabolic disease burden. One particular barrier reported among AA women in recent research is that being physically active can have an undesirable effect on the hairstyles and hair maintenance of many AA women. However, the underlying mechanisms contributing to this barrier have not been fully elucidated. The purpose of this study was to explore hairstyle maintenance as a barrier to PA among AA women and identify effective strategies to overcome this barrier in the design of a culturally relevant PA intervention. Methods. A qualitative study design was used. Data were collected from focus groups conducted with 23 sedentary and obese AA women (M age = 38.1 years, M BMI = 39.8 kg.m2). Content analysis was used to analyze these focus group data. Results. Three key themes emerged from the qualitative narratives of participants: 1) Impact of Perspiration on Hair and Hairstyle Maintenance, 2) Image and Social Comparisons, and, 3) Solutions to Overcome Hair-related Barriers to PA. For Impact of Perspiration and Hairstyle Maintenance, participants described how perspiring while engaging in PA negatively impacts many of their hairstyles. Participants further discussed how time and monetary burdens associated with PA-related hairstyle maintenance further contributed to this issue. Findings for the theme of Image and Social Comparison focused on how an AA woman’s hairstyle is an important part of the image and the social comparisons made by non-AAs regarding the hairstyles and maintenance practices of AA women. For Solutions to Hairstyle Maintenance Barriers, participant described a variety of potential styling techniques that may help alleviate PA-related maintenance concerns, including braids, locks, and natural hairstyles. However, no styling technique was uniformly endorsed by all study participants. Conclusions. Findings highlight the significance of hair in the AA community and provide further insight on appropriate intervention design strategies to overcome this sociocultural barrier to PA. Future research is needed to corroborate and further expand on our findings.
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    The Health of the Serbian Roma/Gypsies: A Research Report
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2015-04-17) Biviji-Sharma, Rizwana; Cvorovic, Jelena; Coe, Kathryn
    The Balkan region is densely populated by Roma, a socially disadvantaged, stigmatized and relatively reproductively isolated ethnic group. Health data from across Europe show that being a Roma is associated with much poorer health status than is seen in the majority populations or among other ethnic minority groups. These data may not be accurate as the number of Roma was grossly underestimated. Almost nothing is known about the health of Serbian Roma. In this presentation we describe the results of a 2014 study of Serbian Roma women living in two settlements in the northern province of Serbia, with a focus placed on investigating health history of the females and their close kin. We focused on health concerns and on behaviors that are protective or that increase risk for chronic diseases (e.g., cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases). A special focus placed on reproductive histories.
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    Investigation of the Cultural Context of Sugars Consumption Behavior in Low-Income Mexican-American Women
    (Digital Scholarship@UNLV, 2017) Benitez, Tanya J.; Keller, Colleen; Coe, Kathryn; Tasevska, Natasha; Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health
    Despite the recent federal dietary recommendations to limit consumption of added sugars to less than ten percent of daily caloric intake, there is a gap in published literature examining the influence of food preparation behaviors on sugars consumption among low-income Mexican-American women. The purpose of the study was to describe the cultural context of Mexican-American women in procuring, preparing and presenting added sugars in their families’ diets. Five focus groups were conducted to examine sugars consumption behavior in thirteen overweight/obese low-income Mexican-American women ages 27-40 years. Themes that emerged during the sessions included: changes in food procurement to include high-sugar foods and sugar-sweetened beverages following migration from Mexico to the U.S.; children’s influence on what was bought and consumed in the household; changes in household diet when relatives prepared food; and influence of family traditions/extensive social gatherings and traditional foods during holidays on sugars consumption. Culturally relevant factors influencing sugars consumption were identified. We report strategies that can be used in public health interventions to reduce sugars intake among low-income Mexican-American women; such strategies must acknowledge cultural and contextual factors of social ties, the role of family members in influencing diet, and importance of maintaining traditional foods and cultural celebrations.
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    Reconceptualizing the Human Social Niche: How It Came to Exist and How It Is Changing
    (The University of Chicago Press, 2016-04-04) Palmer, Craig T.; Coe, Kathryn; Steadman, Lyle B.; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    In this paper we present a reconceptualization of the social dimension of the human niche and the evolutionary process that brought it into existence. We agree with many other evolutionary approaches that a key aspect of the human niche is a social environment consisting primarily of cooperating and altruistic individuals, not a Hobbesian social environment of “war of all against all.” However, in contrast to the conception of this social environment as consisting of individuals who, in Boyd and Richerson’s words, “cooperate with large groups of unrelated individuals,” we propose that it is more accurately described as consisting of cooperating individuals who currently are often nonkin but who, until relatively recently in human existence, were primarily, and in many cases almost exclusively, kin. In contrast to the conception of this social environment coming into existence by way of a process of selection within and between groups, we propose that it is the result of selection operating on traditions originated by ancestors and transmitted to their descendants. We use our fieldwork in three areas of the world (New Guinea, Ecuador, and Canada) to illustrate this process and how current social environments can be roughly placed on a continuum from traditional to nontraditional.
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    Reproductive Investment and Health Costs in Roma Women
    (MDPI, 2017-11) Čvorović, Jelena; Coe, Kathryn; Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health
    In this paper, we examine whether variation in reproductive investment affects the health of Roma women using a dataset collected through original anthropological fieldwork among Roma women in Serbia. Data were collected in 2014–2016 in several Roma semi-urban settlements in central Serbia. The sample consisted of 468 Roma women, averaging 44 years of age. We collected demographic data (age, school levels, socioeconomic status), risk behaviors (smoking and alcohol consumption), marital status, and reproductive history variables (the timing of reproduction, the intensity of reproduction, reproductive effort and investment after birth), in addition to self-reported health, height, and weight. Data analyses showed that somatic, short-term costs of reproduction were revealed in this population, while evolutionary, long-term costs were unobservable—contrariwise, Roma women in poor health contributed more to the gene pool of the next generation than their healthy counterparts. Our findings appear to be consistent with simple trade-off models that suggest inverse relationships between reproductive effort and health. Thus, personal sacrifice—poor health as an outcome—seems crucial for greater reproductive success.