How does social inequality impact people and communities, and how can we intervene?
Formally trained in public health, my work has explored how social inequalities and opportunities are produced in the US, for whom, and the implication of those processes for health, economic, and social wellbeing.
I use quantitative and qualitative data to explore these questions, with the goal of producing both academic and public-facing products to mobilize policy and practice solutions.
Some work that I’m especially proud of is featured here
Social Determinants of Health Interventions for Latinx Families
Evaluating pediatric interventions for Latinx children and families
Why we did this project:
Ensuring the wellbeing of Latinx children is an essential investment in our nation’s future, yet Latinx children face significant inequities in developmental and health outcomes, beginning as early as infancy. To address these challenges pediatric social determinants of health interventions, which screen vulnerable families for unmet needs and connect families to material and social supports, are one promising strategy to address the social and economic hardships faced by many Latinx families.
What we did:
The study explores whether DULCE, a novel pediatric SDOH intervention in CA and FL, was associated with improvements in Latinx families’ caregiver well-being and child health and development. We use a mixed-methods study design to evaluate changes in caregiver and child outcomes using longitudinal data and complemented our quantitative findings with qualitative interviews with DULCE caregivers
What we learned:
- DULCE improved caregivers’ reported resiliency, with effects strongest for immigrant families
- DULCE did not improver caregivers’ stress or depression or any child outcomes, however
- Caregivers reported that close relationships with near-peer family specialists were crucial
- Family Specialists provided critical social support, connection and feedback loops to social services
- DULCE, a 6-month intervention, was beneficial for many families but unable to mitigate structural sources of social and economic vulnerabilities faced by many families
View the Chapin Hall Study Website
Check out our Research Brief
Incarceration Nation
The contours of immigration enforcement, incarceration, and policy.
Why we did/are doing this project:
The prison-industrial complex in the United States is expansive. The US has the highest per capita incarceration rate globally and operates the largest immigration detention system in the world. While purportedly race-neutral, these incarceration systems disproportionately target Black and Latinx Americans in the US. Our project aims to examine how these racialized systems in the US contribute to racial health inequities
What we did/are doing:
We are:
- linking national county-level immigration arrests and incarceration data
- studying the relationships between local immigration arrests and adverse birth outcomes
- testing if county-level immigrant friendly policies enhance immigrant well-being and health
What we learned/are learning:
In previous work, with coauthors Nicole Novak and Arline Geronimus, we studied the Postville immigration raid (2008) and found that Latina women living in Iowa experienced increases in adverse birth outcomes after the raid.
How A Major Immigration Raid Affected Immigrant Health
Change in birth outcomes among infants born to Latina mothers after a major immigration raid
Untangling Spatial Inequalities in the Structural Drivers of Health
Linking place-based data to understand the drivers of perinatal health disparities in the US
Why we did/are doing this project
The US ranks among the worst of all developed countries in perinatal health- high rates of maternal and infant mortality and severe maternal morbidity . Racial/ethnic, socioeocnomic, and geographic disparities in perinatal health is also pervasive with some evidence that disparities have widened.
Perinatal health is influenced by an interplay of clinical, individual, and social factors, but the role of structural drivers has been understudied. Structural drivers are the policies, macroeconomic forces, institutions and systems, and culture that generate the social determinants of health and health outcomes.
What we did/are doing:
Using novel data science approaches including geospatial analytics and machine learning, we are linking dozens of place-based datasets to characterize the multidimensional drivers of perinatal health across counties in the US
Causal inference and statistical analysis techniques to study the links between structural drivers and the sequelae of perinatal health from preconception to pregenancy
What we learned/are learning:
This project is ongoing, check back soon for updates!
US COVID Atlas: Data, Storytelling, and Community Partnership
Why we did this project?
What we did/are doing:
What we learned/are learning:
Dr. AMC 