Research Interview

    I am elated to share an opportunity I had to gather information regarding women who undergo self and social stigma in rural communities. As I mentioned, an Asha, is a person that serves as an interface between the public and rural communities. This is often times, the first level of healthcare advice a person from a village would see. Some of the staff at PHRII graciously helped me land an interview with an Asha, and we partnered up with the staff at PHRII to translate the interview for us. 

     Suvana, has been an Asha for over eight years now and serves at a local village not too far from Mysore. Suvana kindly shared with us some of the cases she has worked within the past years regarding HIV within women and children. My fellow and I held a three part interview on questions regarding women with HIV, children with HIV,  and stigma surrounding the illness. Suvana shared with us more than we expected while respecting the patients confidentiality. Below here, I have the questions we asked regarding stigma and specifically how it can affect the adversity within a women's health. Interestingly enough, Suvana shared with us the extent she has had to go through for women in the past so they would not feel ostracized by the community. She explained that often times if a women needs to seek help from a practitioner at a clinic or the hospital, she needs to meet with the Asha there instead of walking next to one. This is typically because women believes the community can begin to speculate.