Congratulations to Assistant Professor Rahbel Rahman, Ph.D., who received the Fordham-Columbia University Research Fellow Award from the Fordham University Office of Research for the project “Examining Mental Health Stigma Among Pakistan Pregnant women and mothers with children under 5 years.”
Read more about Rahman’s project here:
Pakistanis comprise a sizeable portion of Asian immigrants and are one of the largest Muslim-American ethnic groups in the U.S. Currently, the Flatbush, Kensington, and Midwood areas of Brooklyn house the largest population of Pakistani American Muslims in the New York metro area (Center for the Study of Asian American Health, 2007). Culturally, Pakistan is a deeply religious and patriarchal society where restrictions on women’s freedoms interfere with their access to maternal health services causing the nation to lag behind most other countries on maternal health indicators, such as depression and spousal violence. Despite these unique risk factors, research on mental health and access to care has consistently grouped all Asians and Pacific Islander subethnicities into a single category. The few studies of Pakistani immigrants were conducted in the UK or Canada, and none have focused on prenatal and postpartum periods. Through this fellowship award, Drs. Rahbel Rahman at GSS and Susan Witte at Columbia University are able to collaborate with students, Rupal Patel (GSS) and Ailia Hasnain Rizvi (Columbia University) and with the American Council of Minority Women Inc. to examine mental health stigma and barriers to mental health care among 150 Pakistani pregnant women and mothers with children under the age of 5 years. The study will be conducted over the summer of 2022. Congratulations to Rupal Patel for being selected to work with Dr. Rahman. We thank Dr. Abigail M. Ross for her input in the initial stages of the project.
