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Our Mission

The Council on Nursing and Anthropology is an organization that brings together nurses, anthropologists and others interested in understanding and promoting the health of peoples and cultures around the world through research and practice innovations.

Common interests of CONAA members are basic and applied health research, improved health care for vulnerable populations, and encouraging cultural and social justice content in nursing education.

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What is CONAA?

The Council on Nursing and Anthropology (CONAA) is an organization for those interested in both nursing and anthropology. We meet each year at the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) meetings in the spring. For the past three decades, the Council on Nursing and Anthropology (CONAA) has gathered nurse-anthropologists, nurses and other health care professionals, anthropologists and other health social scientists and friends for scholarly and evidence-based practice initiatives.

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Our Goals

  1. To increase our visibility globally through social media and to use the knowledge CONAA has gained from our 35 years of existence to expand our international and local member base. Our redesigned logo, website and Facebook page is intended to help in these efforts.

  2. To enhance collaboration with partner organizations such as the Society for Applied Anthropology and the Transcultural Nursing Society and to create new partnerships with international organizations.

Publications

Membership

CONAA in the community
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The Council on Nursing and Anthropology (CONAA) is interested in recruiting new members who share their enthusiasm about issues linking anthropology, nursing and other issues related to health and health care. Membership is open to nurses, non-nurses, anthropologists, non-anthropologists, and to anyone who is interested in the ways anthropology, nursing, health and health care intersect.

To facilitate a dialogue on topics of interest to CONAA, we sponsor sessions at the annual meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA).

Topics of interest among CONAA members include class, race, racism, gender, immigration, vulnerable populations, disease-specific cultural understandings of health, risk, and healing, and health care access and acceptability.

Although CONAA members' research interests vary widely, they share a common interest in educating nurses and other health care providers to understand and incorporate anthropological knowledge, theory and skills into health and health care.

To join CONAA, please click here.

Opportunities

Global Qualitative Nursing Research (GQNR) is a ground breaking, international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal focusing on qualitative research in fields relevant to nursing world-wide. GQNR also welcomes qualitative studies pertinent to nursing that advance knowledge of diversity and systemic biases (e.g., racism), including the intersection of multiple oppressions and social identities, that shape experiences of health and illness, nursing and healthcare, and their implications for health equity. The journal provides a forum for sharing qualitative research from around the world that has international relevance for nursing. GQNR will publish research articles using qualitative methods and qualitatively-driven mixed-method designs as well as meta-syntheses and articles focused on methodological development.

CONAA has partnered with GQNR to provide members with these important opportunities:

  • Publication of accepted CONAA Conference abstracts free of charge
  • Article Process Charge waivers are available for SfAAconference attendees who submit their manuscript within 18 months of the conference and the manuscript is accepted for publication in GQNR.
  • Participate in peer review of manuscript submitted to GQNR. Register to be a reviewer here.
  • Serve as Guest Editor(s) for a Special Collection in GQNR. Click here to submit your proposal.

Information about the journal and submission guidelines can be found here. Follow GQNR on Twitter for updates: @GQNRjournal

CALL for PAPERS: GQNR is now inviting manuscripts from the 2021 SfAA conference attendees. Click here for details.

For further information contact: Kristina Moulton, Managing Editor, Kristina.Moulton@sagepub.com or Dr. Joan L. Bottorff, Editor-in-Chief, GQNR, joan.bottorff@ubc.ca

Global Qualitative Nursing Research

Council on Nursing & Anthropology

J. Thomas May CONAA Mentorship Program

The J. Thomas May CONAA Mentorship Program is an exciting way for members to learn more about applied anthropology through CONAA and to develop the necessary skills for successful leadership in nursing and anthropology globally.

In 2020, in memory of J. Thomas May, the Council on Nursing and Anthropology (CONAA) introduced the J. Thomas May CONAA Mentorship Program. It was implemented to promote mentoring of members, to develop CONAA leaders, and to support innovative practices.

CONAA will highlight each J. Thomas May CONAA Mentee with a selected interest article. Mentors will also be recognized by CONAA.

The Council on Nursing and Anthropology CONAA supports the education of its members to better understand and incorporate anthropological knowledge, theory and skills into the science of health and health care.

The CONAA Executive Committee is inviting active members to apply to the J. Thomas May CONAA Mentorship Program.

The Program is an opportunity to grow professionally and personally, to develop and expand leadership skills and learn more about the Council on Nursing and Anthropology (CONAA) and the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA). A leadership intern serves in that position for one year, is mentored by a member of CONAA, has the opportunity to develop networking opportunities, and to participate in CONAA activities.

Selection criteria include:

  • Evidence of interest in developing leadership, service, scholarship in CONAA
  • Availability for a one year term: March through February
  • Current member of CONAA

The selected intern will be expected to:

  • Participate in special event planning and implementation
  • Be available for future CONAA leadership positions
  • Attend a CONAA-sponsored event

Functions of an Intern

Under the supervision of the Board designated mentor:

  • Become familiar with roles and functions of each officer.
  • Participate in committee activities (e.g program development committee, recruitment and retention, etc.).
  • Observe functions of webmaster.
  • Network with CONAA chapter members.
  • Participate in planning and implementation of a selected project.
  • Attend a CONAA-sponsored activity as approved by the Board.

How to Apply

To apply, fill out the below form. Once submitted, email your current curriculum vitae and one letter of support from a CONAA member. The deadline for application is February 1.


Officers

Biographies

Rosemarie Santora Lamm, Ph.D., ARNP, Licensed Mental Health Counselor
SFAA-CONAA member since 1992

As a young professional nurse, I was imbued with the observations that patients brought their life experiences to our healing centers. This observation was validated when I found cultural concepts in anthropology! When introduced to the concepts of culture inextricably embedded in the health of individuals was when I discovered the Council on Nursing and Anthropology (CONAA). I conceptually integrated basic theories of culture with experiential nursing experiences. The challenges ahead were many and varied including establishing research that integrated qualitative and quantitative methods. As a member of CONAA, I was able to integrate the specialization of Geriatric Nursing with research. When doing so, I created a platform which allowed experiential learning with a mixed method of research and measurement.

Florida Southern College began a nursing program during the period of time when nursing was moving from diploma and associate degree education toward the Baccalaureate degree in Nursing. We developed a curriculum which allowed registered nurses (RNs) to return to college and complete a BSN in an evening degree completion program. When developing the curriculum, I integrated culturally relevant topics to courses in leadership, health assessment, geriatric nursing, public health and senior capstone seminars. The HIV/AIDS epidemic was influencing public health and aspects of lifeways were integrated into assessments. As research established the disparity in health status as a result of poverty, I integrated research from CONAA colleagues. This research was also being studied in allied disciplines affecting populations as risk Colleagues in CONAA were integrating this into their research projects, publications and presentations.

While teaching in a baccalaureate nursing program, my interest in applied research became apparent. I entered the applied anthropology Ph.D. program at The University of South Florida. Dr. Alvin Wolfe introduced me to Dr. Nancy Anderson, who was then the President of CONAA. She led me into the world of teachers, practitioners and researchers who perceived ideas and concepts which affirmed the integration of social and cultural variables through research. When developing my research I was challenged with how to measure the qualitative variables while integrating the findings with quantitative measurements. The applied researchers in CONAA provided pathways for integrating these variables. We were regularly hearing the words “applied” and “mixed methods” at meetings.

Armed with confidence from colleagues in CONAA, I moved forward with the research project An Association between Depression, Chronic Illness and Health Culture among the Elderly in Three Ethnically Distinct Communities. The integration of The Geriatric Depression Rating Scale with lifeways in the communities of Lincolnshire, England, San Ildefonso, New Mexico, and Polk County, Florida became challenging. The research methods provided a path to success in the completion of the Ph.D. The experience of living in the communities of varied cultures studied provided insight into their lifeways and an emic view of health behaviors. The academic experience is easily described while life changing moments defy the written word!

As a teacher and mentor I was searching for ways to provide a teaching method for students to comprehend the integration of applied anthropology with nursing. Theories are found in the writings of nursing educators from the archives of SFAA and CONAA. Leininger, Brink, Anderson, and Breda became beacons for nurse anthropologists for decades.

While teaching at the University of South Florida I was able to integrate applied anthropology with gerontology. I designed a research study that provided services to the elder community including health information, senior education, seminars and support groups. Students and faculty were providers of services and an integral part of data collection. Participatory Action Research provided the model to develop The Rath Senior ConNEXTions Center at The University of South Florida. Students were taught research in applied anthropology which resulted in the development of a viable program.

As a nurse anthropologist I was able to further develop this center into a private non-profit corporation in the community. The Rath Senior ConNEXTions Center was established with nurses and volunteers connecting seniors to valuable resources for services. As a member of CONAA I have presented the research findings and colleagues have inquired in order to further their nursing and anthropology goals. The valuable research outcomes have provided the framework to continue offering programs for seniors at The Rath Senior ConNEXTions Center and in the community.

While Treasurer of CONAA for three terms, I was able to work with our president Dr. Karen Breda to ensure the ongoing success of nursing in The Society for Applied Anthropology. As an Emeritus member, I continue to support the endeavors of CONAA and their leadership for nursing and anthropology.

Additional Resources

Susan Schwartz, Ph.D.

President

Assistant Professor Widener University Chester, PA

SUSAN SCHWARTZ is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, USA. Schwartz holds a Doctorate (Ph.D.) and Master’s (AM) in Anthropology from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a Master’s in Nursing (MSN) from West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania, a Bachelor’s in Nursing (BSN) from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and a Bachelor’s (BA) in Anthropology from the University at Albany, SUNY, in Albany, New York.

Having obtained her education in anthropology prior to becoming a nurse, she brings a unique perspective to nursing and nursing education. As a nurse educator, Dr. Schwartz teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in public health nursing, nursing research and nursing leadership. Additionally, she developed and directed several global immersion and experiential programs abroad, bringing nursing students to work with riverine communities in the Amazon and the favelas of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil.

Dr. Schwartz has received numerous awards including the Outstanding Nurse Educator Award at Rutgers University and an Excellence in Teaching at Harvard University. Additionally, she was selected as a Faculty Ambassador to the University of Sao Paolo, Brazil, a Faculty Delegate for Population Health to the University of Havana, Cuba, and as a Civic Engagement Faculty Fellow at Rutgers University.

Dr. Schwartz' academic work has been supported by grants from the Mellon Foundation, a fellowship from the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, a short-term fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington D.C., and numerous grants from the Centers for Global Advancement and International Affairs at Rutgers University. Dr. Schwartz was honored as a Nurse Leader by Sigma Theta Tau in 2014. Susan Schwartz was unanimously elected President of CONAA in 2019.

Amy Shaver, PhD

Treasurer

Associate Professor of Nursing Hartwick College Oneonta, NY Phone: 607-431-4789 Cell: 518-339-4353 E-mail: amy.shaver426@gmail.com

AMY SHAVER is an Associate Professor of Nursing at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. Dr. Shaver completed graduate studies first at the State University of New York Institute of Technology earning a Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration in 1998. Later, in 2008 she completed a PhD in Nursing with a Rural Community Focus at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York.

Throughout her career Dr. Shaver has practiced in acute care and multiple public health care settings. Currently in her role as an educator she teaches community and public nursing as well as research and theory courses at the bachelor’s and graduate level. She melds these interests by involving her students in assessing and researching the health of communities, partnering with several local agencies. Dr. Shaver also maintains her own program of research focused on gerontology, specifically the well- being elders living in the in rural communities.

Her initial research entitled Attaining Healthy Life as Perceived by Rural Elder Community Dwellers: A Narrative Analysis was presented at the American Public Health Association’s National Conference and nominated for the annual gerontology award in 2008. Since that time, Dr. Shaver has completed several research projects in the area of gerontology and conducted workshops and conferences with the same focus. Her research continues to expand in this area and she is presently completing work on healthy life for seniors in Allegany County, New York.

Gaya Carlton, PhD, RN

Nominations Committee Chair

Adjunct Professor, Department of Nursing University of Hartford West Hartford, CT E-mail: gaya7@comcast.net

GAYA CARLTON is an Adjunct Professor of Nursing at University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut. Dr. Carlton holds a doctorate (PhD) in nursing from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado and a master’s degree (MSN) in nursing administration and baccalaureate degree (BSN) from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Currently in her role as an educator she teaches in the University of Hartford graduate program. Previously she was the Graduate Program Coordinator at Utah Valley University and taught in both the baccalaureate and graduate programs focusing on global nursing perspectives and health assessment at the undergraduate level, and leadership and teaching in the classroom setting at the graduate level. In addition to her teaching career, she has held management positions and practiced in maternal child acute care settings and served 23 years in the Army Nurse Corps in both National Guard and Reserve units. She has also been employed as an admissions case manager at Intermountain Medical Center, Murray, Utah.

Dr. Carlton and her husband, Dr. Michael Minch, have taken students to Haiti on several studies abroad to learn and experience poverty, social injustice, structural violence, capacity building and sustainable development.

Sylvia Jalil-Gutierrez, PhD

CONAA Program Chair

Central Connecticut State University Department of Anthropology Email: gutierrez@ccsu.edu

DR. JALIL-GUTIERREZ is an adjunct professor in the Department of Anthropology and a scholar-in-residence in the Center for Africana Studies at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). Her research interests include Health Inequality, Health Disparities, Political Economy of Health, and Health and Human Rights.

She is also a cultural applied anthropologist who has done consulting work for Social Policy Research Associates under a U.S. Dept. of Labor Youth Opportunity Grant awarded to the city of Hartford, and for the New Britain, CT YWCA and Coalition for New Britain’s Youth. Furthermore, Dr. Jalil-Gutierrez is a Connecticut Health Foundation Health Leadership Fellow, Class of 2008 and a registered nurse.

Elise Matthews

Outreach Committee Chair

University of Regina Faculty of Nursing Email: elise.matthews@uregina.ca

DR. ELISE MATTHEWS is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Regina in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Dr. Matthews completed her graduate studies in the interdisciplinary Culture, Health, and Human Development program at the University of Saskatchewan. She has practiced clinical nursing in both acute care and community settings and she teaches in the areas of family health, counselling and teaching in nursing practice, growth and development and research methods. Her dissertation research explored adults’ reflections on childhood trauma and living with a parent with a mental health or substance use disorder. Dr. Matthews is currently researching nursing students’ understanding of culture and health after international immersion clinical placements and the outcomes of these programs in nursing education. She is also the principal investigator in a collaborative, community-based, participatory research project examining the family experiences and meaning of childhood disability among several Indigenous First Nations communities in Saskatchewan, with the aim to provide innovative, culturally-engaged local services and supports (www.rrun.ca funded by CIHR, SSHRC, SHRF).

Lorna Kendrick

Archivist

Director of Nursing Email: loken30@yahoo.com

Dr. LORNA KENDRICK earned her PhD in nursing from UCLA with a focus on Depression as it affects risks to the Immune and Cardiovascular systems. She worked for many years in neuro-surgical ICU and as an Advanced Practice Child/Adolescent Psychiatric Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist maintaining a small private practice while working in academe for the last 32 years. As an academician for 30+ years, Dr. Kendrick is currently serving as Dean of the Samuel Merritt University College of Nursing.

Dr. Kendrick has combined experiences in both qualitative and quantitative research. Those experiences include bench science work in Immunology (CD-4) cell-line as well as Ethnographic Fieldwork and Participatory Action Research with young African American men. Her combined research interests focused on connecting mental health with disease prevention (immunology) and physical wellness have led to collaborations, partnerships, and travels to Europe, Canada, Cuba, Alaska, Turkey, Argentina, Japan, Nigeria, and South Africa. Research findings led to being the first to publish the idea of “depression as a fact of life for” (Kendrick, et al., 2007) among higher social economic status young African American men attending college. For this achievement in 2010, Dr. Kendrick earned the honor of being recognized as a UCLA School of Nursing Distinguished Alumnus alongside a phenomenal group of nursing leaders, scientist, and academician for “Sterling Contributions in Advancing Nursing Science”.

She is a native Californian, who enjoys time with family, travel, hiking, off-roading, gardening, DIY projects, old movies, and audible books. She is the current Archivist for the Council on Nursing and Anthropology (CONAA).

Ana Malinalli X Gutiérrez Sisneros

Secretary

Associate Professor Northern New Mexico College Espanola, NM

Ana Malinalli X Gutiérrez Sisneros, Ph.D., MALAS, MSN, BSN, ADN, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, AHN-BC is an Associate Professor of Nursing at Northern New Mexico College, in Espanola, NM, and is an advanced practice adult psychiatric/MH CNS and an advanced practice holistic nurse from Alburquerque, NM, tracing ancestors in NM back to 1603. Her community engagement work is supported by the T.R.E.E. (Transdisciplinary Research, Equity and Engagement) Center at the University of New Mexico, which funds behavioral health projects for minority researchers. The T.R.E.E. Engagement Center for Advancing Behavioral Health is among twelve research centers of excellence funded by the National Institute of Minority Health & Health Disparities and Ana is a member of the CEDC (Community Engagement & Dissemination Core) Community of Practice for Dissemination (COP4D), in the Northeast region of NM. Ana has been involved for 38 years in working with local rural towns including Española, Chimayó and Velarde, to partner with local agencies and organizations in providing much needed behavioral and mental health services that are culturally relevant for the area. She is thoroughly committed to addressing, with community partners, in Chimayo, NM, through Barrios Unidos, for example, to the solutions and interventions in regards to behavioral and mental health disparities and the trauma being felt by communities. She is a qualitative researcher who has done studies about daily spiritual experience with recovering heroin addicts in Rio Arriba County (Masters thesis, 2002) and with the members of the Genízaro Nation at the Pueblo de Abiquiu in relation to ethnic/tribal identity as a moderator of their mental health (Doctoral dissertation, 2017).

NURSING, CARING, AND COMPLEXITY SCIENCE

For Human-Environment Well Being

Alice Davidson, RN, Ph.D. (Editor) Marilyn Ray, RN, PhD, CTN (Editor) Marian Turkel, RN, PhD, NEA-BC (Editor)
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Amazon

"This collected scholarship...will inform the personal/professional evolution of caring and nursing into this century and beyond, inviting new visions of the evolved human in the world of practice, education, research, administration, and clinical care. It is truly a visionary futuristic manifesto for this time in nursing and health sciences at all levels." -Jean Watson, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, FAAN University of Colorado Denver College of Nursing, Founder: Watson Caring Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado

This innovative volume explores nursing and complexity science, and investigates how they relate in research, education, and practice. The book examines best methods for using complex systems, with expert contributing authors drawn from nursing, sociology, informatics, and mathematics. Each author is actively involved in studying and applying complexity science in diverse populations and various settings-especially in terms of nursing, chronic care, health care organizations, and community health networks. Chapters conclude with a response written by a nursing scholar, administrator, or practitioner, focusing on chapter concepts relevant to the complex systems seen in nursing. Chapters also include models that relate how these concepts can be used in practice, management, education, and research-from micro to macro scales. The first of its kind, this book demonstrates the potential of complex systems perspectives in nursing and health care research, education, and practice.

Key Features: Presents the central concepts of complexity science as they relate to nursing, Facilitates greater understanding of human caring relationships through the lens of complex organizational systems and provides examples of how to create and implement complex systems models that enhance care for individuals, and in leadership roles, organizational caring, nursing informatics, and research methods.

Transcultural Caring Dynamics in Nursing and Health Care

Marilyn A. Ray, RN, PhD, CTN, CNAA Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
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CONTENTS IN BRIEF
Conceptual Model and Applications:
  1. Transcultural Caring Dynamics in Nursing and Health Care
  2. The Essence of Caring
  3. Transcultural Caring Ethics
  4. Transcultural Context to Transcultural Caring
  5. Universal Sources
  6. Transcultural Caring Inquiry: Awareness, Understanding, and Choice
Transcultural Caring Experiences:

20 Case Studies highlighting various cultural groups in different settings and experiences.

How do you perceive your cultural identity? All of us are shaped by the cultures we interact with and the cultural backgrounds and ethnicities that are part of our heritage. Dr. Marilyn Ray shows how cultures influence one another through inter-cultural relationships, technology, globalization, and mass communication, and how these influences directly shape our cultural identities in today’s world.

The transcultural awareness and caring model enables students and clinicians to… Assess their cultures; Recognize their cultural identities; Use transcultural awareness in decision making; Analyze and engage in interventions by applying the appropriate tools for a situation.

This new book goes beyond common stereotypes to provide a framework that can positively impact the nurse-patient relationship and the decision-making process.

OUTSTANDING FEATURES
Explores...
  • transcultural caring dynamics
  • ethical principles
  • transcultural context
  • universal sources
  • and developing a personal, cultural, and decision-making foundation.
Offers transcultural tools for...
  • caring dynamics assessment
  • culture-value conflict assessment
  • spiritual-ethical communicative caring
  • caring choice
  • and communicative interaction.
Also...
  • Uses self-awareness tools to help your students understand their personal beliefs and how those beliefs infuence their assessments of and care planning for their patients.
  • Illustrates concepts with over 20 case studies with learning activities that ensure students’ mastery of the techniques of transcultural assessment and caring.
RESOURCES FOR INSTRUCTORS UPON ADOPTION ONLINE AT DAVISPLUS
Instructor’s Guide showing how to
  • apply the caring-based learning approach
  • use this book in a standard course, across the curriculum, and as an online course
  • evaluate students’ answers based on suggested solutions for case studies in the text.
Student Resources including...
  • case studies
  • assessment tools from the book.
Also...
  • PowerPoint slides with illustrations.

NURSING RESEARCH USING ETHNOLOGY

Qualitative Designs and Methods in Nursing

Mary de Chesnay
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Amazon Google Books

Ethnography is a qualitative research design that focuses on the study of people to explore cultural phenomena. This concise, "how to" guide to conducting qualitative ethnography research spearheads a new series, Qualitative Designs and Methods, for novice researchers and specialists alike focusing on state-of-the-art methodologies from a nursing perspective. Scholars of qualitative ethnography research review the philosophical basis for choosing ethnography as a research tool and describe in depth its key features and development level. They provide directives on how to solve practical problems related to ethnography research, nursing examples, and discussion of the current state of the art. This includes a comprehensive plan for conducting studies and a discussion of appropriate measures, ethical considerations, and potential problems.

Examples of published ethnography nursing research worldwide, along with author commentary, support the new researcher in making decisions and facing challenges. Each chapter includes objectives, competencies, review questions, critical thinking exercises, and web links for more in-depth research. A practical point of view pervades the book, which is geared to help novice researchers and specialists expand their competencies, engage graduate teachers and students and in-service educators and students, and aid nursing research in larger health institutions.

"[A]n excellent book for researchers who want to conduct nursing research using ethnography... Weighted Numerical Score: 99 - 5 Stars!" -- Doody's Book Reviews

CLINICALLY APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropologists in Health Science Settings

Noel J. Chrisman Thomas W. Maretzki
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Amazon Springer

Like other collections of papers related to a single topic, this volume arose out of problem-sharing and problem-solving discussions among some of the authors. The two principal recurring issues were (1) the difficulties in translating anthropo­ logical knowledge so that our students could use it and (2) the difficulties of bringing existing medical anthropology literature to bear on this task. As we talked to other anthropologists teaching in other parts of the country and in various health-related schools, we recognized that our problems were similar. Similarities in our solutions led the Editors to believe that publication of our teaching experi­ ences and research relevant to teaching would help others and might begin the process of generating principles leading to a more coherent approach. Our colleagues supported this idea and agreed to contribute. What we agreed to write about was 'Clinically Applied Anthropology'. Much of what we were doing and certainly much of the relevant literature was applied anthropology. And our target group was composed-mostly of clinicians. The utility of the term became apparent after 1979 when another set of anthropologists began to discuss 'ainical Anthropology'. They too recognized the range of novel be­ haviors available to anthropologists in the health science arena and chose to focus on the clinical use of anthropology. We see this as an important endeavor, but very different from what we are proposing.

CARING FOR THE VULNERABLE

Perspectives on nursing theory, practice, and research

Mary de Chesnay Barbara Anderson
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Amazon

Caring for The Vulnerable is designed as a text for courses on vulnerable populations and a supplementary text for courses on health policy, community health nursing, nursing theory, and research. In the third edition, the editors have retained basic content yet added new chapters that focus on different vulnerable populations. This book was originally written for undergraduates in nursing, but over the years it has been used extensively in graduate education.

This edition highlights nurse practitioners in two units, Teaching-Learning and Programs as well as increasing the focus on the advocacy role for nurses. While retaining theoretical models from previous editions, this new edition highlights HIV-infected mothers and vulnerable women who breastfeed. Also added is material on undocumented immigrants, sex trafficking, and research in global health nursing.

Contemporary issues of vulnerability addressed in this edition include nurses in the military, childhood obesity, breast cancer, and success at overcoming substance abuse and sexual abuse. Finally, the unit on policy implications focuses on system-related issues affecting vulnerability. An AJN Book of the Year, the reference is written by two nurse anthropologists who have worked extensively with a variety of vulnerable populations.

Moving The Rock

Poverty and Faith in a Black Storefront Church

Mary E. Abrums Associate Professor, Nursing Program University of Washington | Bothell

Moving the Rock: Poverty and Faith in a Black Storefront Church portrays several generations of a small group of African American women who migrated from the south to the Pacific Northwest in the 1940s and 1950s. Although the book is about women in the Pacific Northwest, the stories about poor and working class Black women are universal and will appeal to audiences across the country. This book is an "ethnography of the particular" that describes the day-to-day realities of the women's lives. The women in the book are all members of the same small storefront church; and Moving the Rock describes how the women's faith and their church community help them to face daily challenges of poverty and racism.

The women's stories are powerful, profound and accessible. Both general and academic audiences will be interested in reading them. The book will appeal to any readers who want to learn more about poverty and racism and the specificity of the lives of poor African Americans in the United States today. The book is also about the meaning of faith and how that faith and the church community can be the cornerstone that supports poor people as they deal with everyday challenges. Moving the Rock is also about working with and/or doing research with poor people. Professionals and students, such as health care and social service workers, educators, government workers, foundation workers and women's groups will find that these stories will help them as they work with poor and working class African American families. The book can readily be adapted for courses in health care, anthropology, social work and social science, education, women's studies, ethnic studies, American studies, religious studies, research and policy.

Reviews

"Abrums, an anthropologist and registered nurse, examines the lives of African American women members of the Morning Sun Church in the Central District of Seattle. Abrums spent 18 months observing and interviewing the women of Moring Sun, and the resulting stories are deeply engaging as individual narratives and compelling when taken as a whole. The work positively sparkles with the voices of these women as they discuss their struggles, joys, beliefs, health, and families. This book is undoubtedly academic, yet there is much here for the nonacademic reader to enjoy, too. Engaging, beautifully written, surprising, and challenging in the best way possible, this is highly recommended for its fine, compelling writing as well as for its profound subject."
- Library Journal, Starred Review

"Mary Abrums has written an honest and sensitive portrayal of African American families rarely found in today’s literature. It took me back to an earlier time and place in my own life, and I experienced a full range of emotions as I read. I rejoice in the publication of this book."
- Lydia McAllister, Seattle University

"The rich detail of these women’s lives is wonderfully expressed through the eyes of the narrator as she relates their life stories within the cultural context of the Seattle community in which they live. The book presents authoritative research but reads like a fascinating novel and one quickly finds oneself immersed in the lives of the eight women who shared their life histories. Abrums paints a picture so compelling that I felt I was sitting in their homes with the women and could feel their exhaustion or exhilaration. By sharing their stories, these women remind us that we have more in common as human beings than we have differences."
- Mary de Chesnay, Kennesaw State University

"In Moving the Rock, Abrums eloquently unfolds the religious beliefs and practices of the women of Morning Sun Church, a group of African-American women who struggle to nurture their families and community members against the tremendous odds. Written in a clear and engaging style, this book provides a major contribution to scholarships in womanist/feminist literature, religious studies, and the anthropology of working-class African-American in the urban Northwest. The author’s conscientious efforts to keep the voices of these women and their narratives at the forefront of this text gives the reader an insider’s perspective of how religious beliefs and practices empower women living at, near, or below the official poverty line in the United State."
- Ruth P. Wilson, San Jose State University

Bylaws

ARTICLE I. Name of the Organization
  • The name of this organization shall be the Council on Nursing and Anthropology, also known as CONAA.
ARTICLE II. Purposes and Objectives
  • The purpose of this organization shall be to provide a forum for the discussion of issues in nursing and anthropology, to share research and theory that interrelate the two fields, and to serve as peer reviewers for the members.
  • The objectives of this organization shall be to:
    • Increase interactions of persons involved in nursing and anthropology.
    • Provide a vehicle for formal and informal consultation with colleagues on nursing and anthropology.
    • Increase the visibility of nurse anthropologists.
    • Encourage implementation of anthropology in nursing.
    • Explore the contribution of nursing to anthropology.
    • Share information on teaching anthropological content in nursing.
ARTICLE III. Membership
  • Membership shall be open to anyone interested in nursing and anthropology by paying annual dues as set by the Council.
ARTICLE IV. Meetings
  • CONAA shall hold meetings at the annual meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology.
ARTICLE V. Officers
  • There shall be a president, president-elect, secretary, and treasurer elected for two year terms, the secretary to be elected one year and the president-elect and treasurer elected on the subsequent year.
ARTICLE VI. Fiscal Year
  • The fiscal year shall be from the annual meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology to the next annual meeting. Any individual paying dues between these two periods is paying dues for that period.
ARTICLE VII. Nominating Committee
  • A nominating committee of three persons shall be appointed at every SfAA meeting from volunteers from the three major geographic regions: east of the Mississippi, west of the Rockies, and the middle states. The committee will serve for a one-year term in which its duties will be to prepare a slate of officer(s) for that year, solicit acceptances to serve, prepare and mail the ballot, and distribute the findings.

President's Message

Dear Members, Colleagues and Supporters,

As I complete my second year as President of CONAA, I find that our organization has never been more relevant and important; whether practicing nursing or anthropology, in an academic or health care setting, we are all confronting significant challenges and changes around us. These changes, whether social, political, economic or otherwise, oblige us to engage with our communities as they navigate an increasingly complex landscape.

I am proud of CONAA’s successes over the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the face of a last minute (and necessary) COVID related cancellation of the Annual Meeting in March 2020, we pulled together as an organization and collaborated to hold our sessions virtually. The day was a huge success! CONAA’s Outreach Committee Chair, Elise Matthews, published an article in the May edition of the SfAA Newsletter about the event-please read more about it here.

During the fall our Program Committee, led by Program Chair Sylvia Jalil-Gutierrez, worked diligently to organize seven CONAA sponsored sessions, a total of 30 papers, for the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology (March 23-27). This number is even more impressive in light of the many obstacles experienced across disciplines with engaging in research and scholarship during the pandemic. I am truly grateful to this committed and talented team!

Our collaboration with SAGE continues as we partner to increase the reach of our scholarship through the journal Global Qualitative Nursing Research. Members who present at the national meeting are given the opportunity to publish, after peer review, without fees. Furthermore, our peer-reviewed abstracts are published annually in a special edition. Please see https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2333393620925792 for last year’s abstracts. We will soon be announcing additional opportunities to our members stemming from this collaboration.

This past year has prompted us to become more innovative in how we reach our members, and we look forward to meaningful engagement with each other and our partner, the Society for Applied Anthropology, at the upcoming Annual Meeting. The SfAA’s Program Committee has put together an impressive program comprised of pre-recorded and live sessions and lectures. Find out more at https://www.appliedanthro.org/annual-meeting

Over this next year we will continue these initiatives while looking to introduce more ways to connect and engage, enhance our outreach, and broaden our membership. Together, as nurses and anthropologists, we celebrate the work of the past year as we look forward to the year ahead.

Sincerely,

Susan

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS DEADLINE EXTENSION to Virtual Only Conference in 2021

The Council on Nursing and Anthropology (CONAA) invites you to submit an abstract to the Council on Nursing and Anthropology for the 2021 annual meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA). All CONAA sessions will be held virtually. You are invited to participate in the meetings. The virtual sessions for CONAA will be held on Wednesday March 24 and Thursday March 25, 2021.

The Council on Nursing and Anthropology is a co-sponsor for the annual SfAA meetings. All abstracts are peer reviewed by the CONAA program committee. Submit your abstract via email to Dr. Sylvia Jalil-Gutierrez at gutierrezs@ccsu.edu. Upon notification of acceptance you will be given the name of the session and the name of the session organizer. You will be instructed to submit the abstract through the SfAA registration portal.

After peer review of your abstract and acceptance, you will pay the meeting registration fee of US $170 ($80.00 for presenters from the global South and for all students) and the CONAA membership fee of US $30.00 ($10.00 for participants from the global South and for all students). If you are an active member of CONAA, you are not required to join SfAA.

2021 CONAA/SfAA Meeting Theme

CONAA (Council on Nursing and Anthropology) is an organization that brings professionals together working at the intersection of health and anthropology, health and trans-cultural or cross-cultural dynamics, health inequality, and health disparities. Thus, CONAA members engage in basic and applied health research, improved health care for vulnerable populations, and encourage cultural and social justice content in health education.

As we prepare for the 2021 Society for Applied Anthropology annual meeting, we ask: What tools and methods can we offer to link multiple spheres of action? Are local, global, and geographic factors implicated in economic precarity and health disparities? Has social science adequately addressed health issues relevant to vulnerable, marginalized and military populations? How are populations confronting the current health and economic crises, and grassroots social justice movements (Black Lives Matter, immigration activists, climate change activists, etc.?) What strategies are being employed/deployed to overcome their increasing uncertain and unstable circumstances? What means and approaches are those working on the front lines of this pandemic utilizing in addressing, or attempting to address the needs of those with whom they work? How do race/ethnicity, gender, and class affect this current moment? These issues may also be addressed at the conference.

Steps in the Process

  1. Prepare an abstract of not more than 100 words using a narrative style (examples are attached).
  2. Submit your abstract by September 24 to Sylvia Jalil-Gutierrez at gutierrezs@ccsu.edu
  3. Join CONAA. Link to: https://www.conaa.org/index.php/membership
  4. Register for the SfAA meetings. Link to: https://www.appliedanthro.org/annualmeeting/annual-meeting-registration
  5. When your abstract is accepted, you will receive an email explaining the Title of the CONAA session and the Name of the Session Organizer.
  6. Submit your abstract through the SfAA portal. Include the Title of the Session and the Name of the Session Organizer.

CONAA opens SfAA 2024 with exciting Roundtable Session on Querencia

By Karen Breda (U Hartford)

Ana Malinalli X Gutierrez Sisneros.pngQuerencia means “love of place, land, culture and people” says nurse and anthropologist Ana Malinalli X Gutierrez Sisneros. Locals in northern New Mexico use the term querencia to describe the feeling that calls them back to their towns and to their pueblo. It is the place where they feel connected to the earth. It is the place where they draw their strength, and where they feel truly at home. Ana X from Northern New Mexico College (NNMC) opened her Roundtable session Nuevo Mexico, Our Querencia: Enchanting Transformation through Applied Anthropology on Santa Fe/New Mexico Day with the traditional song “Arriba Nuevo Mexico” and a fervent call to respect the home of the Tewa people. 

The well-attended session sponsored by CONAA - Council on Nursing and Anthropology www.conaa.org drew SfAA and CONAA attendees as well as members of “Tewa Women United” an advocacy organization that celebrates the collective power of families, communities, and Nung Ochuu Quiyo (Earth Mother) tewawomenunited.org.

Ana X described the plight of unhoused people living in tents along the banks of the river near Northern New Mexico college where a community farm, called ¡Sostenga! Farm, a soup kitchen, and an overfilled homeless shelter are located. The student body at NNMC in Española is 75% Latina/o and is located in one of the most underserved areas in the state. Food and housing insecurity are issues in many parts of the Española Valley

Lupe Salizar.pngPanelist and local traditional healer Lupe Salazar from Barrios Unidos, in Chimayo, New Mexico discussed the high percentage of women raising their grandchildren and great grandchildren for family members (who may be in prison or who have died). Lupe, who attended the session with her two-year old granddaughter, uses the quote from Estevan Arellano “if we don’t learn to love them, we will never defend them" on the Barrios Unidos website www.barriosunidoschimayo.org. Lupe runs support groups for Barrios Unidos, formulates medicinal healing products from local herbs, and tends the outdoor meditation labyrinth located at the center. Barrios Unidos is an interdisciplinary, inter-generational and inter-cultural community investigating cultural and psychological issues related to addiction and cultural trauma in the Española Valley.

Patricia Trujillo.pngRoundtable panelist Patricia Trujillo, born and raised in the Española Valley, is the Deputy Secretary of the New Mexico Higher Education Department. Patricia is an expert in cultural sustainability and equity and diversity for historically underrepresented populations. Trujillo, who holds a PhD in U.S. Latina/Latino Literature, was on the faculty of Northern New Mexico College and was instrumental during the early years of the ¡Sostenga! Farm

Myrriah Gómez (UNM Honors College), another roundtable panelist is an expert on nuclear colonialism and the effects of the Manhattan Project on northern New Mexico. Her book Nuclear Nuevo Méxicoexplores the effects of the nuclear industrial complex on Nuevomexicanas/os. Gómez discussed how her great grandparents were one of many Nuevomexicano families pushed off their land on the Pajarito Plateau when the U.S. government unlawfully acquired Los Alamos to create the Manhattan Project. Myrriah explained how settler colonialism in New Mexico opened the door for nuclear colonialism and how Los Alamos, as a racist project targeting New Mexican farming families and those in the Pueblo created a legacy of disease and distress in northern New Mexico that continues today. For more context, follow the link to this article: www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/intervenxions/the-truth-about-what-happened-here-new-mexico-and-the-manhattan-project.

Shrine .pngLater in the conference week on Thursday Ana X hosted a field trip to El Santuario de Chimayó a shrine located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Chimayó, New Mexico. El Santuario de Chimayó is a holy place that stems in part from the discovery of a miraculous crucifix buried in the dirt there almost 200 years ago. The Pueblo Indians believe that much of the land, particularly the sacred hills and springs east of where today’s church was erected on the Santa Cruz River at “El Potrero” were sacred long before that time. The Tewa Indians had used the land for healing and as a part of their indigenous beliefs for centuries. With the imposition of Catholicism by the Spanish, the syncretism of elements of Christianity with traditional religions became necessary for survival.

Today, El Santuario de Chimayó is an important Catholic pilgrimage site. During Holy Week thousands make the pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayó to coincide with Good Friday when it is believed that the sacred crucifix appeared to a Friar who was tending a field nearby. Since that time, American Indians and Latinas/os/Latinx from across the southwest have traveled to the site of El Santuario to seek out healing or to pray for an array of blessings for marriages, persons in the military, and other life experiences. Pilgrims leave offerings of many types, especially photos, in memory of or seeking grace for themselves, family, and friends. 

Ana Malinalli X Gutierrez Sisneros, as a New Mexico history expert and Secretary of CONAA, was instrumental in bringing the SfAA group together and in teaching us much about the meaning of Querencia and the love of place, land, culture and people in the pueblo areas of northern New Mexico.

Meditation labyrinth.png     Holy door .png     Chapel.png

conaa copy.jpgThe Council on Nursing and Anthropology www.conaa.org is an organization for those interested in both nursing and anthropology. We meet each year at the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) meetings in the spring. For the past three decades, the Council on Nursing and Anthropology (CONAA) has gathered nurse-anthropologists, anthropologists, health care professionals, health social scientists, and friends for scholarly and evidence-based practice initiatives. If you are interested in submitting an abstract to a CONAA-sponsored session in the Portland, Oregon SfAA meetings in 2025, email Karen Breda at breda@hartford.edu.