Using Community Capitals Framework to Evaluate Access to Health Care
A Field Study Proposal
In this study I will use the seven capitals of Community Capitals Framework (Natural, Social, Human, Cultural, Political, Financial and Built Capital) to understand the circumstances surrounding Wiamoase’s Salvation Army Health Center and evaluate healthcare access in Wiamoase. While I don’t have a specific hypothesis to test, I’ll use participant observation and interviews to focus on trying to answer these questions: 1) What are the resources under each capital that exist in the health center and community? 2) How is people’s access to health care affected by these capitals?
I understand and appreciate that a field study is a type of learning opportunity that blends travel and cultural immersion, but necessitates the independent pursuit of learning and is a lot of hard work. I have caught a glimpse of these aspects of a field study as I’ve prepared to go into the field; the atmosphere of the preparation course has helped push me to identify and pursue personal goals and dreams. I know this experience doing research within another culture will continue to push my skills, perceptions and interests to the limit and afford me a valuable opportunity for real life learning and change. This field study will probably someday compare to pivotal experiences I’ve already had in life—as a student here and as a missionary in Arizona. I feel that all of these experiences have opened my mind to different people, lifestyles, and life opportunities as well as helped me re-evaluate my own values and priorities. The opportunity I have this summer to immerse myself in another culture and study topics catered to my interests and goals in a field setting is an invaluable opportunity. I hope to understand life within a different context and hope to record my impressions of the culture and things I learn about Ghanaian culture both as it relates to my field study research but also for my own benefit as a record of the experience I have this summer.
Finally, a field study experience with BYU would be the crowning experience of my last year of undergraduate work because it is a way to focus my general interests in Geography to the more specific field of International Development before I graduate. As a part of the requirements for my course contract with Joan Dixon, I will compile the information I gather from my field notes, my observations, interview methods, any paperwork from using PRA methods, and interview notes into a book for my final project. This topic is one that could potentially benefit the health center by identifying areas of strengths or improvement; it’s also one that I have a great interest in exploring and a great deal to benefit from as the experience will give me an approach to identify and understanding the challenges associated with sustaining a development project in a rural area.
Community Capitals Framework
This is an image of the seven capitals of a community, I will be using this theory in my study to understand 1) what assets exist in the community for each capital and 2) how access to Healthcare is affected by each capital.
Qualifications and Limitations
As a Geography major, I’ve learned to notice how situation, location and surroundings affect different aspects of a community, organization, or individual. My major has helped me realize the importance that places, history, physical characteristics and human attributes play in what can and can’t occur. This semester I’m taking Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa, where I was educated on the major concerns, challenges, and history of African countries and people; I also learned the common problems people in Africa face, and that education will be important as I travel to Ghana and as I try to understand more deeply the community of Wiamoase. I wish to extend this geographic training by considering the geography of a place according to Community Capitals Framework. I’ve taken IAS 220 this semester from Dave Shuler, where I’ve received an education about the positive and negative sides of Development; the successes in Development as well as the failures and some reasons for those failures. I’ve learned about the importance of involving the community in development and drawing on their knowledge and deep understanding of their own situation. I have prepared my research techniques with the training of the Field Study Preparation class, IAS 360R. With this class I’ve learned about the sensitive and important role that culture will play in my research. I’ve learned to look outside my own perceptions and try to understand the perceptions and interpretations of others. I’ve learned about the culture and language of the Ashanti region of Ghana from IAS 201R. Because of the teacher and my fellow students, I’ve learned some of the fundamental basics of the Ghanaian culture and Twi, the language spoken in Wiamoase. These courses have been a compliment to my preparation to go to Ghana and will provide a solid foundation for the experience and research I’ll be doing.
The limitations I have that are directly related to my research project are a language and culture barrier that will influence the process of conducting this research. I plan to spend the first few weeks and my entire time in the community coming to an understanding of culture and language I’m studying in; also I plan to find and use interpreters to help me conduct interviews and understand my observations. Development is a new minor and as such, a topic unrelated to my former field of study. However the Community Capital Framework has a highly geographic aspect to it that will correlate with what I have been studying for four years. The 90 days I’ll spend in the community will limit the depth of my study, but the type of study I’m doing (observation and descriptive) I want to do takes that limitation into consideration and suites that time frame better than other studies I could do.
I also have limitations within my study. There is potential that the scope of this
study can become too broad because of the situation of the clinic, and the time I have within the field will limit how much information I can collect without sacrificing accuracy or quality of the information. If this is the case, when I reach the field I will strive to do a preliminary investigation into what capitals the health center struggles with most and focus my efforts and study on the attributes of those capitals.
Faculty Mentors and Coursework
My mentor, Joan Dixon teaches the IAS 220 course as well. She has been instrumental in my use and understanding of the Community Capitals Framework. She is involved with the Marriot School’s Center For Economic Self-Reliance, as well as development programs in the Provo area. Her experience with Development theory and research has been instrumental to developing my study and will continue to be a strength to my research in the field.
Other Faculty members that have given valuable academic support and expertise overseeing my coursework have included Dave Shuler and Ashley Tolman. Both Dave and Ashley (although their opinions sometime differ) offered a lot of answers to questions and concerns that I had with my research, project focus and methods. They’ve provided invaluable advice and discussions that have gotten my project to the point it’s at today.
Course Contracts I’m taking while in the field include courses that deal with the requirements of my International Development Minor.
a. SOC 304 – Ralph Brown is offering a course in Sociology and Development that looks into Development theory, political challenges, the effects of globalization and sociological concepts in Development. Not only will this meet the requirement for the minor, but it will give me resources and material with which I can consider the social and political capitals in the framework.
b. IAS 397R (ANTH 441) – Dave Shuler and I collaborated to make a course that would satisfy the requirements for Anthropology and Development. Dave gave me readings that link culture and development. One of the books is about evaluating development projects and many of the extra readings give advice about ethnographic interviewing and studies. It works well for the field and for the minor.
c. IAS 399R – Joan Dixon is my mentor and has set up a course for me that focuses on my project with the framework, readings that deal with the framework and fill requirements for the International Development minor as well. The work I put into this research will count as hours towards this class and at the end I’ll turn in a compilation of the work and notes I’ve taken during the field study.
d. IAS 201R – Ashley Tolman. A required course for field studies that involves readings, blog posts and a paper.
