Social science & medicine
-
Social science & medicine · Aug 2017
Financialisation in health care: An analysis of private equity fund investments in Turkey.
The 2007-2008 global financial crisis revived interest in the impacts of financial markets and actors on our social and economic life. Nevertheless, research on health care financialisation remains scant. This article presents findings from research on one modality of financial investments in health care: global private equity funds' investments in private hospitals. ⋯ These private equity investments, in turn, intensified and broadened the process of marketisation in health care services. Four impacts are identified, through which private equity investments hasten the marketisation of health care services. These relate to the impacts of private equity investments on a) advancing the process of chain formation by large hospital groups, b) spreading financial imperatives into the operations of private hospitals c) fostering internationalisation of capital, and d) augmenting inequities in access to health care services and standards.
-
Researchers have described the difficulties of doing abortion work, including the psychosocial costs to individual providers. Some have discussed the self-censorship in which providers engage in to protect themselves and the pro-choice movement. ⋯ Using these data, we theorize about the ways in which giving voice to these tensions might transform current abortion discourse by disrupting false dichotomies and better reflecting the complex realities of abortion. We present a conceptual model for dangertalk in abortion discourse, connecting it to functions of dangertalk in social movements more broadly.
-
Social science & medicine · Jul 2017
Effects of maternal traumatic distress on family functioning and child mental health: An examination of Southeast Asian refugee families in the U.S.
The psychological effects of trauma are well-documented among refugee adults and children alone, yet less research has attended to the intergenerational transmission of trauma within refugee families. Additionally, there is considerable diversity between refugee populations as well as within-group variation in the experiences and effects of refugee trauma. ⋯ Findings suggest that refugee parents' trauma can adversely affect family relationships and the mental health of children. Interventions that address parental trauma and support intergenerational relationships may enhance mental health within refugee communities for future generations.
-
Social science & medicine · Jul 2017
Confined to a tokenistic status: Social scientists in leadership roles in a national health research funding agency.
The idea of interdisciplinarity has been taken up by academic and governmental organisations around the world and enacted through science policies, funding programs and higher education institutions. In Canada, interdisciplinarity led to a major transformation in health research funding. In 2000, the federal government closed the Medical Research Council (MRC) and created the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). ⋯ Our findings show that, while CIHR was created with the mandate to support the entire spectrum of health-related research-including the social sciences-this call for inclusiveness has not yet been materialized in the agency's organisational structure. Social scientists, as well as researchers from neighbouring disciplines such as social epidemiology, health promotion and the humanities, are still confined to low levels of representation within CIHR's highest echelons. This imbalance limits social scientists' input into health research in Canada and undermines CIHR's interdisciplinary ambition.