Mai‐lei Woo Kinshella
Biographic Data
| ID | 4507759 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mai‐lei Woo Kinshella |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mai‐lei Woo |
| FAMILY NAME | Kinshella |
| SIGNATURE | KINSHELLA M L W |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of British Columbia |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5846-3014 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
“Now that the baby is out, I can be vaccinated”
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in pregnancy, but vaccine hesitancy limits uptake and effectiveness. This study explored COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in pregnancy in Kilifi, coastal Kenya, to elicit reasons for vaccine hesitancy and acceptance, and to compile misconceptions around vaccination in pregnancy. Twenty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with pregnant women, mothers who had given birth in the previous 2 years and health wor…
Community engagement approaches and lessons learned
Community engagement (CE) has been recommended as an important ethical consideration for health research to enhance informed consent and exchange knowledge between researchers and community members. The purpose of this paper is to describe how CE was developed and delivered for the PRECISE prospective pregnancy cohort study in Kenya. PRECISE enrolled pregnant women in antenatal care, followed them up to the postpartum period, and collected data a…
Community perspectives on maternal dietary diversity in rural Kenya, Mozambique and The Gambia
Pregnant and lactating women in sub-Saharan Africa are vulnerable to micronutrient inadequacies, with risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Adequate intakes of diverse foods are associated with better micronutrient status and recommended by the World Health Organization as part of healthy eating counselling during antenatal care. However, our understanding of community knowledge of dietary diversity within the context of maternal diets is limited. …
The development and implementation of a community engagement strategy to improve maternal health in southern Mozambique
Delays to seek medical help can contribute to maternal deaths particularly in community settings at home or on the road to a health facility. Community engagement (CE) can improve care-seeking behaviours and complements community-based interventions strengthening maternal health. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process undertaken to develop and implement a large-scale community engagement strategy in rural southern Mozambique. The CE…
Caregiver perceptions of nutrition interventions in infants and children under 24 months of age
Objective: Efficacy studies show early nutrition interventions improving infant nutrition status, but understanding caregiver acceptability is required for implementation of such interventions. This systematic review examines caregivers’ perceptions of nutrition interventions in young children. Design: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and PsychINFO from date of online journal inception throug…
Methodological Insights, Advantages and Innovations Manuscript Title
With the growth of qualitative health research in low- and middle-income countries, local health professionals are increasingly involved in facilitating interviews with their fellow health workers. Understanding the methodological implications of such situations is required to ensure high-quality study findings and to build capacity and skills for interviewers with clinical backgrounds working with limited resources. This article reports a qualit…
Beyond early initiation
Improving breastfeeding practices is key to reducing child mortality globally. Sub-optimal exclusive breastfeeding rates may be associated with inadequate hospital-based postpartum breastfeeding support, particularly in resource-limited health settings such as Malawi. While almost all children in Malawi are breastfed, it is a concern that exclusive breastfeeding rates in Malawi are declining. The objective of this study is to understand postpartu…
The missing focus on women’s health in the First 1,000 days approach to nutrition
The First 1,000 Days approach highlights the time between conception and a child’s second birthday as a critical period where adequate nutrition is essential for adequate development and growth throughout the child’s life and potentially onto their own offspring. Based on a review of relevant literature, this commentary explores the First 1,000 Days approach with a maternal lens. While the primary objective of the First 1,000 Days approach to nut…
Food insecurity and coping strategies in a marine protected area in southeastern Tanzania
This article examines the perceived food security and coping strategies in coastal communities located in a marine protected area (MPA) in southeastern Tanzania. Drawing on fieldwork concentrated in a representative coastal village, the article illustrates how women in particular understand their food security situation in relation to the MPA. Data from interviews with 120 women suggest that the majority of the households in the study area were f…
Quinoa Buffets and Sugar Devils
With an emphasis on self-management, discourses of cancer survivorship and healthy diets can become an individualizing project, which is contested through the experiences of food told by the people with a history of cancer highlighted in this article. Based on interviews with 38 women and men treated for cancer in Canada, this paper explores the experience of cancer survivorship through food. While most informants endorsed eating more healthily, …
Consuming Hunger
Among the Makonde of Southeastern coastal Tanzania, cassava (Manihot esculenta L.) is a staple and traditional food. Focusing on perspectives regarding cassava from Sinde village in Tanzania, this paper explores how the history and social relations involved in the movement of cassava—also known as manioc, mandioca and yuca—become embodied in the eating experience. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Sinde, this paper examines how cassava was the…
The land is now not fertile
Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a coastal village in south-eastern Tanzania, this paper examines how social inequalities and social suffering become embodied in the lived experiences of hunger. The paper explores local meanings of food, fertility and hunger and how these concepts interconnect and materialize on a landscape impacted by two large-scale conservation and development projects, the Mtwara Development Corridor and the Mnazi Bay Ruvum…
Consuming Hunger
Among the Makonde of Southeastern coastal Tanzania, cassava (Manihot esculenta L.) is a staple and traditional food. Focusing on perspectives regarding cassava from Sinde village in Tanzania, this paper explores how the history and social relations involved in the movement of cassava—also known as manioc, mandioca and yuca—become embodied in the eating experience. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Sinde, this paper examines how cassava was the…
The land is now not fertile
Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a coastal village in south-eastern Tanzania, this paper examines how social inequalities and social suffering become embodied in the lived experiences of hunger. The paper explores local meanings of food, fertility and hunger and how these concepts interconnect and materialize on a landscape impacted by two large-scale conservation and development projects, the Mtwara Development Corridor and the Mnazi Bay Ruvum…
Consuming Hunger
Among the Makonde of Southeastern coastal Tanzania, cassava (Manihot esculenta L.) is a staple and traditional food. Focusing on perspectives regarding cassava from Sinde village in Tanzania, this paper explores how the history and social relations involved in the movement of cassava—also known as manioc, mandioca and yuca—become embodied in the eating experience. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Sinde, this paper examines how cassava was the…
The land is now not fertile
Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a coastal village in south-eastern Tanzania, this paper examines how social inequalities and social suffering become embodied in the lived experiences of hunger. The paper explores local meanings of food, fertility and hunger and how these concepts interconnect and materialize on a landscape impacted by two large-scale conservation and development projects, the Mtwara Development Corridor and the Mnazi Bay Ruvum…
Quinoa Buffets and Sugar Devils
With an emphasis on self-management, discourses of cancer survivorship and healthy diets can become an individualizing project, which is contested through the experiences of food told by the people with a history of cancer highlighted in this article. Based on interviews with 38 women and men treated for cancer in Canada, this paper explores the experience of cancer survivorship through food. While most informants endorsed eating more healthily, …
Food insecurity and coping strategies in a marine protected area in southeastern Tanzania
This article examines the perceived food security and coping strategies in coastal communities located in a marine protected area (MPA) in southeastern Tanzania. Drawing on fieldwork concentrated in a representative coastal village, the article illustrates how women in particular understand their food security situation in relation to the MPA. Data from interviews with 120 women suggest that the majority of the households in the study area were f…
The missing focus on women’s health in the First 1,000 days approach to nutrition
The First 1,000 Days approach highlights the time between conception and a child’s second birthday as a critical period where adequate nutrition is essential for adequate development and growth throughout the child’s life and potentially onto their own offspring. Based on a review of relevant literature, this commentary explores the First 1,000 Days approach with a maternal lens. While the primary objective of the First 1,000 Days approach to nut…
Beyond early initiation
Improving breastfeeding practices is key to reducing child mortality globally. Sub-optimal exclusive breastfeeding rates may be associated with inadequate hospital-based postpartum breastfeeding support, particularly in resource-limited health settings such as Malawi. While almost all children in Malawi are breastfed, it is a concern that exclusive breastfeeding rates in Malawi are declining. The objective of this study is to understand postpartu…
The development and implementation of a community engagement strategy to improve maternal health in southern Mozambique
Delays to seek medical help can contribute to maternal deaths particularly in community settings at home or on the road to a health facility. Community engagement (CE) can improve care-seeking behaviours and complements community-based interventions strengthening maternal health. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process undertaken to develop and implement a large-scale community engagement strategy in rural southern Mozambique. The CE…
Caregiver perceptions of nutrition interventions in infants and children under 24 months of age
Objective: Efficacy studies show early nutrition interventions improving infant nutrition status, but understanding caregiver acceptability is required for implementation of such interventions. This systematic review examines caregivers’ perceptions of nutrition interventions in young children. Design: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and PsychINFO from date of online journal inception throug…
Methodological Insights, Advantages and Innovations Manuscript Title
With the growth of qualitative health research in low- and middle-income countries, local health professionals are increasingly involved in facilitating interviews with their fellow health workers. Understanding the methodological implications of such situations is required to ensure high-quality study findings and to build capacity and skills for interviewers with clinical backgrounds working with limited resources. This article reports a qualit…
Community engagement approaches and lessons learned
Community engagement (CE) has been recommended as an important ethical consideration for health research to enhance informed consent and exchange knowledge between researchers and community members. The purpose of this paper is to describe how CE was developed and delivered for the PRECISE prospective pregnancy cohort study in Kenya. PRECISE enrolled pregnant women in antenatal care, followed them up to the postpartum period, and collected data a…
Community perspectives on maternal dietary diversity in rural Kenya, Mozambique and The Gambia
Pregnant and lactating women in sub-Saharan Africa are vulnerable to micronutrient inadequacies, with risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Adequate intakes of diverse foods are associated with better micronutrient status and recommended by the World Health Organization as part of healthy eating counselling during antenatal care. However, our understanding of community knowledge of dietary diversity within the context of maternal diets is limited. …
“Now that the baby is out, I can be vaccinated”
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in pregnancy, but vaccine hesitancy limits uptake and effectiveness. This study explored COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in pregnancy in Kilifi, coastal Kenya, to elicit reasons for vaccine hesitancy and acceptance, and to compile misconceptions around vaccination in pregnancy. Twenty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with pregnant women, mothers who had given birth in the previous 2 years and health wor…
Child Nutrition and Water Access (7 works) · Medicine (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Geography (5 works) · Nursing (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Environmental health (4 works) · Health care (4 works) · Qualitative research (4 works)