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Areas of
Concentration:
In working toward its mission,
the Institute has four research concentrations:
(1) Culture and Health/Mental Health Care; (2)
Culture and the Environment; (3) Culture and
Literacy, and (4) Culture and Community
Development.
Culture and
Health Care/Mental Health Care
In this area, the CPI focuses
on the relationships among culture, health, and
policy. Examples of topics include culturally
informed medical practices, the delivery of
healthcare services, health disparities, and
health and wellness.
The Culture and Policy
Institute currently engages in projects related
to a specific research initiative on the health
issues facing the large, underserved and
understudied sector of South Texas. One such
project, the South Texas Initiative for Mental
Health Research (STIMHR) (see
http://www.utsa.edu/stimhr/) is a
collaborative effort intended to increase
mental-health research at the University of
Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). This work is
supported by a grant from the Department of
Health & Human Services, National Institutes of
Health.
Another active project related
to this concentration is the San Antonio Health
Services Research Program (SAHSRP) (see
http://www.utsa.edu/cpi/sahsrp/index.htm)
enhances the capacity of faculty and graduate
students to conduct health services research as
well as support four collaborative projects.
This is supported by a $1.3 million research
grant by the Agency for Health Research and
Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.
Culture and Literacy
This concentration focuses on the
relationship between culture and literacy, with
an emphasis on closing the educational
achievement gap among the diverse groups that
constitute the U.S. population,
and on cross-cultural
communications and competencies.
Culture and Community Development
Work in this area of
concentration identifies and examines cultural
features of society with special emphasis on how
culture and public policies interact to promote
community development and how they impact the
cultural meanings and values of communities.
An important CPI
accomplishment in this area was carried out in
cooperation with the Annie E. Casey Foundation
(see
http://makingconnections.utsa.edu/mcsa/home.htm
). Among other accomplishments, the work
increased access to community supports and
economic opportunities for low-income families
in a large section of San Antonio's West Side. |
