RESEARCH
Health Disparities among Women with Multiple Marginalized Identities
I am interested in how intersecting minority statuses jointly have an impact on women's health. Most of my work in this area focuses on Asian American women, including cervical cancer screening among Southeast Asian American women.
Lowell, MA is home to the second largest Cambodian American community. This community faces significant health disparities. I am particularly interested in understanding the social ecological context of healthcare utilization among younger generations of Cambodian American women. I have conducted research on providers' perceptions of their young adult Cambodian American female patients.
Cultural Competence in Healthcare Delivery
My initial work on cultural competence was on the healthcare experience of a woman who occupied multiple minority statuses. Currently, my research team and I examine various aspects of culturally competent care among people who occupy marginalized identities, including women of color and transgender people of color.
I believe being "culturally competent" is more than being superficially aware that cultural differences exist. Providers' implicit biases can affect their perceptions of patients from marginalized groups and influence medical decision making.
Interpersonal Stress and Health among Women
I study both traumatic and non-traumatic interpersonal stress, and its health correlates among women. For example, using Southeast Asian Americans as an example, I argue that sexual harassment and intimate partner violence need to be understood with the context of social, cultural, and historical factors.
I co-edited a special issue of the journal, Women & Therapy, on Trauma and Well-Being among Asian American Women.
In terms of non-traumatic interpersonal stress, I have examined the impact of interpersonal stress from gender-based microaggression among female athletes.
Do women recount their experiences of stressful non-traumatic interpersonal encounters in a particular way? What are the implications for mental health? I examine these questions in more recent work.
