Megha Ramaswamy
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 201687 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Megha Ramaswamy |
| PRENOMES | Megha |
| SOBRENOME | Ramaswamy |
| ASSINATURA | RAMASWAMY M |
| AFILIAÇÕES | University of Kansas |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4167-9024 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 39 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 36 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 39 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2010 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 3 |
Health and strength in the margins
Zines, in the form of independently published print media, are underutilised resources for learning about the health of marginalised communities. Aligning our paper with critical approaches, we examined zines entries (n = 33) authored by Queer and Transgender Black, Indigenous, and other People of Colour (QTBIPOC) for themes of health, strength, oppression and intersectionality. Zines were retrieved from two archives: the ZAPP Zine Collection and…
Incarceration, inclusion, and health equity
The complexities of ‘trust’ in the context of Covid-19 vaccination choices among Black women in Alameda County, CA
Many academic and media conversations about COVID-19 vaccination center on lower uptake among racially minoritized individuals due to what is characterized as 'mistrust.' In 'Is trust enough? Anti-Black racism and the perception of Black vaccine hesitancy,' Wilson argues that questioning Black people's trust in the COVID-19 vaccine fails to 'understand Black people as rational, complex beings who are fit to make reasonable decisions guided by com…
Community-Engaged Research Informing Upstream Determinants of Cancer Prevention for People with Criminal Legal System Involvement
Background: Cancer prevention and early detection efforts traditionally focus on knowledge about and access to screening services; however, upstream approaches such as health care policy interventions are equally important. Our research team collaborated with women with criminal legal system involvement (CLSI) to prioritize upstream determinants of cervical cancer for future intervention. Objectives: To convene stakeholder groups of women with CL…
How menopause symptoms shape experiences of the criminal legal system
Cervical cancer screening barriers and facilitators from the perspectives of women with a history of criminal-legal system involvement and substance use
“I Don’t Just Take Whatever They Hand to Me”
Women transitioning from incarceration often reenter society with multiple barriers to affordable health care. Many resort to costly emergency department visits, and others turn to online health information to compensate for gaps in their health care. Interviews with 74 previously incarcerated women were conducted in 2019–2020 in three midwestern cities. Qualitative and quantitative analysis revealed that, while most participants used the interne…
Understanding the Changing Social and Health Circumstances of Women Leaving Jail
Borrowing insights from Cullen’s Theory of Social Support to explain the association between women’s instrumental social supports and health risks over time, we analyzed data collected from 254 women who completed all waves (completers) or some but not all waves (non-completers) of follow-up data collection at 0, 12, 24, and 36 months. Trajectory and mixed model analyses showed that after release from jail, women had improvements in employment an…
Covid-19 pandemic and women transitioning from incarceration
Characterizing Aging-Related Health in Older Women with a History of Incarceration
Older women with criminal legal system involvement (CLSI) face aging-related challenges to health earlier and with fewer resources than other women. Few studies focus on their health status and aging-related health needs. Objective To characterize aging-related health in women with past CLSI and compare with women with no-CLSI. Method Health and Retirement Study Wave 11 and 12 data from women age >50 with CLSI were compared with data from women a…
Integrating HPV Vaccination Within PrEP care Delivery for Underserved Populations
Sex and aging
To explore perspectives on sexuality, sexual health, and sexual health care of older adult women with a history of criminal legal system involvement, we conducted phone interviews with women aged 50 years or older who were living in the community but had a history of jail and/or prison incarceration. Interview questions and initial analysis were guided by the sexual health framework for public health and Mitchell's sexual wellness model. Data ana…
Creating an Agenda for Black Birth Equity
Background: The grim inequity that Black women and infants are more than twice as likely to die during birth than their white counterparts is a public health crisis. Methods: Guided by principles of critical race theory, we used content analysis to analyze the themes of the presentation made by five Black community members on a 2020 Juneteenth panel, a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Resul…
The Perfect Storm
Black Women's Physical, Mental, and Sexual Health in the Criminal Legal System
This study examines pathways from gender-based, racialized violence to health outcomes among formerly incarcerated Black women. We frame violence as gender-based and racialized, with a theoretical stance that we live in a male-dominated society characterized by historic and contemporary race-based oppression. This secondary analysis focused on a subsample of Black women ( N = 288) from three U.S. cities (Oakland, CA; Kansas City, KS, MO; and Birm…
Jail Provision of Pregnancy and Sexual Health Services in Four Midwestern States
Learning from maternal voices on Covid‐19 vaccine uptake
The aim of this study was to understand COVID‐19 vaccine perceptions and decision‐making among a racially/ethnically diverse population of pregnant and lactating women in the Midwest. Pregnant female participants ( N = 27) at least 18 years. or older living in the Midwest were recruited to participate in a maternal voices survey. A mix‐methods approach was used to capture the perceptions of maternal voices concerning the COVID‐19 vaccine. Partici…
Perceived healthcare quality and contraception utilization among persons recently incarcerated
Abnormal Pap Follow-Up among Criminal-Legal Involved Women in Three U.S. Cities
Criminal-legal involved women experience significant barriers to preventive cervical care, and consequently there is a higher incidence of cervical cancer in this population. The purpose of this study is to identify variables that may facilitate abnormal Pap follow-up among criminal-legal involved women living in community settings. The study included n = 510 women with criminal-legal histories, from three U.S. cities-Birmingham, AL; Kansas City,…
Health and Health Service Needs
Objectives: We profiled the health and health services needs of a sample of older adult women (age 50+) with criminal-legal system (CLS) involvement and compared them with younger women (age 18-49), also CLS-involved. Methods : Using survey data collected from January to June 2020 from adult women with CLS involvement in three US cities, we profiled and compared the older adult women with younger women on behavioral and structural risk factors, h…
Recommendations for Delivering Covid-19 Vaccine in Jails
We report on data we collected from a 2018 survey examining jails’ human papillomavirus virus vaccine delivery capacity and on a secondary analysis we conducted to describe factors similarly associated with delivery planning for the COVID-19 vaccine. We provide recommendations for delivering the COVID-19 vaccine in jails, based on evidence from Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri. Our key finding is that jails have limited staff to implement vac…
Understanding the Impact of an Integrated Crisis Team
Criminal Justice–Involved Women Navigate Covid-19
In March–April, 2020, we communicated with a cohort of criminal justice–involved (CJI) women to see how they were navigating COVID-19, chronic illness, homelessness, and shelter-in-place orders in Oakland, Birmingham, and Kansas City. We report on conversations with N = 35 women (out of the cohort of 474 women) and our own observations from ongoing criminal justice involvement studies. Women reported barriers to protecting themselves given widesp…
A Systematic Evaluation of Barriers and Facilitators to the Provision of Services for Justice-Involved Women
Voter Registration and Jail-Incarcerated Women
Civic engagement, like the broader phenomenon of social engagement, seems out of keeping with the alienating ethos of incarceration. We sought to learn which demographic and contextual factors predicted one form of civic engagement, voter registration, in a jail-incarcerated female population. A 158-item survey was administered to 261 adult women incarcerated in three Midwestern jails, September 2014 to March 2016, as part of a parent interventio…
The Trafficking Continuum
Much of the research on human trafficking focuses on the prosecution of traffickers and protection of survivors after the crime has occurred. Less is known about the social disparities that make someone vulnerable to trafficking. This project examines human trafficking from a preventive focus, using data from a case study of service providers working with at-risk populations in the Kansas City, MO-KS area. The research team conducted 42 in-depth …
The Cycle of Social Exclusion for Urban, Young Men of Color in the United States
This article explores how incarceration amplifies the disconnection from school and work experienced by urban, young men of color in the United States and ultimately leads to their social exclusion. The authors draw on longitudinal data collected in interviews with 397 men age 16 to 18 in a New York City jail and then again one year after their release. Using logistic regression analysis, the authors found that though incarceration did not appear…
The Association of Ethnic Pride With Health and Social Outcomes Among Young Black and Latino Men After Release From Jail
The goal of this study was to understand whether ethnic pride among young, incarcerated Black and Latino men was associated with successful community reentry. We interviewed 397 Black and Latino men 16 to 18 years old in a New York City jail and then again 1 year after their release to determine the relationship between participants' sense of ethnic pride during incarceration, and substance use, violence, recidivism, and education/employment afte…
Learning from maternal voices on Covid‐19 vaccine uptake
The aim of this study was to understand COVID‐19 vaccine perceptions and decision‐making among a racially/ethnically diverse population of pregnant and lactating women in the Midwest. Pregnant female participants ( N = 27) at least 18 years. or older living in the Midwest were recruited to participate in a maternal voices survey. A mix‐methods approach was used to capture the perceptions of maternal voices concerning the COVID‐19 vaccine. Partici…
Returning to the digital world
Based on interviews with 75 women transitioning from incarceration, our research identifies technology access and skills barriers facing this population and their underlying concerns and motivations in navigating privacy online. Our results suggest precarious housing and financial situations, concerns about ex-partners, mental health issues, and lack of self-efficacy pose challenges for their access to and use of digital technologies and influenc…
The Role of Neighborhood Experiences in Psychological Distress Among African American and White Smokers
Black Women's Physical, Mental, and Sexual Health in the Criminal Legal System
This study examines pathways from gender-based, racialized violence to health outcomes among formerly incarcerated Black women. We frame violence as gender-based and racialized, with a theoretical stance that we live in a male-dominated society characterized by historic and contemporary race-based oppression. This secondary analysis focused on a subsample of Black women ( N = 288) from three U.S. cities (Oakland, CA; Kansas City, KS, MO; and Birm…
Perceived healthcare quality and contraception utilization among persons recently incarcerated
Health and Health Service Needs
Objectives: We profiled the health and health services needs of a sample of older adult women (age 50+) with criminal-legal system (CLS) involvement and compared them with younger women (age 18-49), also CLS-involved. Methods : Using survey data collected from January to June 2020 from adult women with CLS involvement in three US cities, we profiled and compared the older adult women with younger women on behavioral and structural risk factors, h…
Recommendations for Delivering Covid-19 Vaccine in Jails
We report on data we collected from a 2018 survey examining jails’ human papillomavirus virus vaccine delivery capacity and on a secondary analysis we conducted to describe factors similarly associated with delivery planning for the COVID-19 vaccine. We provide recommendations for delivering the COVID-19 vaccine in jails, based on evidence from Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri. Our key finding is that jails have limited staff to implement vac…
Understanding the Impact of an Integrated Crisis Team
Feminism and bourdieusian social theory in a sexual health empowerment project with incarcerated and recently released women
Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Knowledge and Intention Among Adult Inmates in Kansas, 2016–2017
Objectives. To assess human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge and vaccine awareness, intention, and uptake among adult inmates in Kansas jails. Methods. We administered a survey with questions adapted from the US National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey to 571 adult inmates in 3 Kansas jails from October 10 to 12, 2016, and January 25 to 27, 2017, to assess HPV knowledge and vaccine awareness, intention, and uptake. Resu…
Sex partnerships, health, and social risks of young men leaving jail
This study highlights the importance and potential benefits of health interventions that engage young Black and Latino men who are involved in the criminal justice system in the US, as well as their sex partners, in health promotion programs. The study also confirms the need for programs that address the employment and housing needs of young men after they leave correctional facilities
The Cycle of Social Exclusion for Urban, Young Men of Color in the United States
This article explores how incarceration amplifies the disconnection from school and work experienced by urban, young men of color in the United States and ultimately leads to their social exclusion. The authors draw on longitudinal data collected in interviews with 397 men age 16 to 18 in a New York City jail and then again one year after their release. Using logistic regression analysis, the authors found that though incarceration did not appear…
Availability of Emergency Contraception in Rural and Urban Pharmacies in Kansas
Purpose: Determine availability of emergency contraception (EC) at rural and urban pharmacies in Kansas. Methods: A sample of 201 Kansas pharmacies was selected using a random integer generator. We measured ability to dispense EC within 24 hours and whether it was in stock at the time of the survey call. We examined EC availability based on geographic differences and pharmacy type. Findings: Of the sample, 186 pharmacists agreed to be interviewed…
Factors associated with sterilization use among women leaving a U.S. jail
The decision to use the permanent method of sterilization as a contraceptive method is a complex one. Results from this study suggest that while explicit coercion may not be a factor in women's choice for sterilization, interpersonal relationship histories, negative experiences with contraceptives, and structural constraints, such as financial concerns and ongoing criminal justice involvement, seem to influence sterilization use among the vulnera…
Health Priorities among Women Recently Released from Jail
Our findings from may inform intervention efforts that connect women to healthcare resources and increase health-promoting behavior during the transition from jail to community
Sexual Health Risk and the Movement of Women Between Disadvantaged Communities and Local Jails
Drawing on cross-sectional data collected in three Kansas City jails, our objective was to describe the social, neighborhood-based context of sexual health risk prior to incarceration for 290 women. Half of the participants were clustered in Kansas City's urban core before their incarceration. Women who lived in these neighborhoods, which had the highest density of our incarcerated participants, were 3 times as likely to report a history of tradi…
The Association of Ethnic Pride With Health and Social Outcomes Among Young Black and Latino Men After Release From Jail
The goal of this study was to understand whether ethnic pride among young, incarcerated Black and Latino men was associated with successful community reentry. We interviewed 397 Black and Latino men 16 to 18 years old in a New York City jail and then again 1 year after their release to determine the relationship between participants' sense of ethnic pride during incarceration, and substance use, violence, recidivism, and education/employment afte…
Availability of Long‐Acting Reversible Contraception in Kansas Health Departments
PURPOSE: Unintended pregnancy persists as a public health problem in the United States. Local health departments (LHDs) could play an important role in preventing unintended pregnancy by promoting and providing long-acting reversible contraception (LARC, intrauterine devices [IUDs] and implants), particularly in rural states that may lack robust family planning service infrastructure. The objective of this study was to determine availability of L…
Feminism and bourdieusian social theory in a sexual health empowerment project with incarcerated and recently released women
The Trafficking Continuum
Much of the research on human trafficking focuses on the prosecution of traffickers and protection of survivors after the crime has occurred. Less is known about the social disparities that make someone vulnerable to trafficking. This project examines human trafficking from a preventive focus, using data from a case study of service providers working with at-risk populations in the Kansas City, MO-KS area. The research team conducted 42 in-depth …
Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Knowledge and Intention Among Adult Inmates in Kansas, 2016–2017
Objectives. To assess human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge and vaccine awareness, intention, and uptake among adult inmates in Kansas jails. Methods. We administered a survey with questions adapted from the US National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey to 571 adult inmates in 3 Kansas jails from October 10 to 12, 2016, and January 25 to 27, 2017, to assess HPV knowledge and vaccine awareness, intention, and uptake. Resu…
Criminal Justice–Involved Women Navigate Covid-19
In March–April, 2020, we communicated with a cohort of criminal justice–involved (CJI) women to see how they were navigating COVID-19, chronic illness, homelessness, and shelter-in-place orders in Oakland, Birmingham, and Kansas City. We report on conversations with N = 35 women (out of the cohort of 474 women) and our own observations from ongoing criminal justice involvement studies. Women reported barriers to protecting themselves given widesp…
A Systematic Evaluation of Barriers and Facilitators to the Provision of Services for Justice-Involved Women
Voter Registration and Jail-Incarcerated Women
Civic engagement, like the broader phenomenon of social engagement, seems out of keeping with the alienating ethos of incarceration. We sought to learn which demographic and contextual factors predicted one form of civic engagement, voter registration, in a jail-incarcerated female population. A 158-item survey was administered to 261 adult women incarcerated in three Midwestern jails, September 2014 to March 2016, as part of a parent interventio…
Knowledge, Beliefs, and Attitudes About Contraception Among Rural Latino Adolescents and Young Adults
PURPOSE: Latino youth experience significant disparities in rates of teen pregnancy, and reproductive health needs of rural Latino youth are not well understood. The purpose of this study was to describe knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes about contraception among rural Latino adolescents and young adults (Latino youth). METHODS: Eighty-four Latino youth, aged 15-24 years from rural Kansas communities participated in 15 focus groups (FG) and compl…
Returning to the digital world
Based on interviews with 75 women transitioning from incarceration, our research identifies technology access and skills barriers facing this population and their underlying concerns and motivations in navigating privacy online. Our results suggest precarious housing and financial situations, concerns about ex-partners, mental health issues, and lack of self-efficacy pose challenges for their access to and use of digital technologies and influenc…
The Role of Neighborhood Experiences in Psychological Distress Among African American and White Smokers
Abnormal Pap Follow-Up among Criminal-Legal Involved Women in Three U.S. Cities
Criminal-legal involved women experience significant barriers to preventive cervical care, and consequently there is a higher incidence of cervical cancer in this population. The purpose of this study is to identify variables that may facilitate abnormal Pap follow-up among criminal-legal involved women living in community settings. The study included n = 510 women with criminal-legal histories, from three U.S. cities-Birmingham, AL; Kansas City,…
Health and Health Service Needs
Objectives: We profiled the health and health services needs of a sample of older adult women (age 50+) with criminal-legal system (CLS) involvement and compared them with younger women (age 18-49), also CLS-involved. Methods : Using survey data collected from January to June 2020 from adult women with CLS involvement in three US cities, we profiled and compared the older adult women with younger women on behavioral and structural risk factors, h…
Recommendations for Delivering Covid-19 Vaccine in Jails
We report on data we collected from a 2018 survey examining jails’ human papillomavirus virus vaccine delivery capacity and on a secondary analysis we conducted to describe factors similarly associated with delivery planning for the COVID-19 vaccine. We provide recommendations for delivering the COVID-19 vaccine in jails, based on evidence from Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri. Our key finding is that jails have limited staff to implement vac…
Understanding the Impact of an Integrated Crisis Team
Jail Provision of Pregnancy and Sexual Health Services in Four Midwestern States
Learning from maternal voices on Covid‐19 vaccine uptake
The aim of this study was to understand COVID‐19 vaccine perceptions and decision‐making among a racially/ethnically diverse population of pregnant and lactating women in the Midwest. Pregnant female participants ( N = 27) at least 18 years. or older living in the Midwest were recruited to participate in a maternal voices survey. A mix‐methods approach was used to capture the perceptions of maternal voices concerning the COVID‐19 vaccine. Partici…
Perceived healthcare quality and contraception utilization among persons recently incarcerated
Integrating HPV Vaccination Within PrEP care Delivery for Underserved Populations
Medicine (34 obras) · Psychology (21 obras) · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (20 obras) · Political science (19 obras) · Sociology (18 obras) · Nursing (15 obras) · Population (15 obras) · Environmental health (14 obras) · Homelessness and Social Issues (12 obras) · Psychiatry (12 obras)