Division Newsletter Spring / Summer 2019


Society	for the	Study of Social	Problems: 
Health,	Health	Policy & Health	Services


WhatÕs InsideÉ
Message from the Co-Chairs

From the Co-ChairsÉ

1
Dear Health, Health Services, & Health Policy Division Members,
Most of us are well into our summer breaks and only weeks from the time we 
gather to refresh our academic connections through common interests, politics, 
and friendships. Our meeting provides opportunities to revitalize our individual 
persons and our collective. We look forward to meeting many of you in New York.
We have put together an exciting list of sessions and round tables and will be co- 
sponsoring a reception with other SSSP divisions. See page two of this newsletter 
for a brief outline of Health Division activities and events not to miss! Please attend 
our division meeting to meet the new Division Co-Chair, celebrate the Health Divi- 
sion Graduate Student Paper and Community Health Praxis awardees, and engage 
in opportunities for shaping the face of the Health Division this academic year.
Please expand your circle of colleagues as well as support old friends. 
Safe travels to New York City!
-- Debora Paterniti (2017-2019) & Meredith Bergey (2018-2020)
Division-Sponsored 
Events in New York City

2

Graduate Student Paper 
Awards 2018 & 2019

3

Commentary on Public 
Health Initiatives to 
Reduce Smoking

4-5

Critical Dialogue Session
5

Community Health Prax- 
is Award Nominations
5
...from the 2018-2020 Co-Chair
Farewell from 2017-19
Co-Chair
6
Best wishes from Villanova, Pennsylvania! Thank you for electing me to serve 
alongside Debora as your division co-chair. SSSP and the Health, Health Policy, 
and Health Services Division have been integral parts of my academic career since 
graduate school. From those early days, I have been committed to supporting the 
DivisionÕs aims of critically examining health and health-care delivery and advocat- 
ing for social justice in matters of health. As a sociologist with a multi-disciplinary 
background in public health, medical anthropology, health services, and social poli- 
cy, the Division has provided a valuable academic and professional home for think- 
ing broadly about the many complex issues facing the health and well-being of 
populations around the globe. The work of our Division and its members is more 
important than ever amidst ongoing and widening disparities
that exist in morbidity and mortality, access to care, and qual- 
ity of life as well as significant changes in health-related tech- 
nology, environmental circumstances, and policy. I look for- 
ward to serving our divisionÕs membership in their continued 
efforts to understand and address the social factors and expe- 
riences involved in these and other pressing issues. We have a 
great program of sponsored sessions lined up for the summer. 
I very much look forward to them and to seeing you all in 
New York City!
-- Meredith Bergey (2018-2020)
Photos from SSSP 2018
6

Division Co-Chairs


Debora A. Paterniti
Co-Chair (2017-2019)
Sonoma State University 
debora.paterniti@sonoma.ed
u

Meredith Bergey
Incoming Co-Chair (2018-
2020) Villanova University 
meredith.bergey@villanova.ed
u



P a g e 2
Division Sponsored Sessions, Co-Sponsored Sessions, Meetings, & Activities
A look at our Division program in brief - summarized from the preliminary program for the 69th annual meeting,
posted 07.02.19 https://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/pageid/2199/fuseaction/ssspsession2.onlineProgram/

Day & Time	Session (#): Session Title	Room	Co-sponsors
FRIDAY, August 9th
8:30-10:10 AM    Session 010: Inequities in Health, Care, and Contexts	Riverside Suite Poverty, Class, Inequality 
12:30-2:10 PM    Session 033: Contested Territories: Negotiated Spaces of Health and Family    Lexington	Ñ
Suite
2:30-4:10 PM	Session 048: Identity, Sexuality, and Health	Vanderbilt	Institutional Ethnography 
Suite
4:30-6:10 PM	Session 060: Sexual Politics, Abortion, and Health	Vanderbilt	Institutional Ethnography 
Suite
SATURDAY, August 10th
8:30-10:10 AM    Session 070: CRITICAL DIALOGUE: From Childhood to Older Adulthood:  Sutton Suite	Sociology & Social Welfare; 
Research Implications for State and National Public Policy	Youth, Aging & Life Course

10:30 AM -	DIVISION MEETING: Health, Health Policy, & Health Services Division   Vanderbilt	Ñ 
12:10 PM		Suite
12:30-2:10 PM    Session 096: PAPERS IN THE ROUND: Health, Health Policy, and Health    Vanderbilt	Ñ 
Services	Suite
Roundtable #1: Health Definition, Access, and Meaning 
Roundtable #2: Social Determinants of Health
Roundtable #3: Structural Determinants of Health & Well Being 
Roundtable #4: Directions in Mental Health and Wellness
Roundtable #5: Territories of Women's Health, Wholeness, & Wellness 
Roundtable #6: Movements & Methods in Health Conceptualization &
Intervention
Roundtable #7: Considering Drugs, Addiction, and Health(care) 
Roundtable #8: Conversations about Health and Health Management
2:30-4:10 PM	Session 099: Inequities in Health Care and Contexts II	Hudson Suite	Poverty, Class, Inequality
7:45-8:45 PM	JOINT SSSP DIVISION RECEPTION (following awards ceremony)	Grand Ball-	Health Division & Others
room Foyer
SUNDAY, August 11th
8:30-10:10 AM   Thematic Session 122: Illuminating the Social in Social Problems: Determi-	Lexington	Ñ 
nants of Health and Well-being in 2020	Suite
10:30 AM -	Session 133: Shifting Policy Environments and Drug Use	Lexington	Drinking & Drugs; Law & 
12:10 PM		Suite	Society
12:30-2:10 PM    Session 148: Dimensions of Health and Environmental Contexts	Riverside Suite Environment & Technology

4:30-6:10 PM	Session 166: CRITICAL DIALOGUE: (Re)Framing the Health Agenda:	Broadway Suite Ñ 
Pressing Questions and Future Directions
New York City, NY

August 9-11, 2019



Health Division Student Paper Competition Award Winners
The recipient of the 2019 Health Division Student 
Paper Award is Alex Brewer (University of Chicago), 
ÒMoralizing the Opioid Shortage: Race, Pain, and Inter- 
pretations of Resource Scarcity in an Urban Hospital.Ó 
Alex will present a version of the winning paper in Ses- 
sion 10: Inequities in Health. Care, and Contexts on Fri- 
day, August 9th at 8:30am.

Honorable Mention for the 2019 Health Division 
Student Paper Award goes to Derek Siegel (University 
of Massachusetts, Amherst) for ÒManaging Abortion- 
Related Emotions: A Feminist Perspective.Ó DerekÕs pa- 
per will be presented in Session 060: Sexual Politics, Abor- 
tion, and Health on Friday, August 9th at 4:30pm.

Congratulations to Alex and Derek!
The Health, Health Policy, & Health Services 
Division invites all graduate students to apply for the 
annual paper award compe-
tition. The submission 
should be related to the Di- 
visionÕs broad interests, in- 
cluding health and illness, 
health policy, and health 
services. Details regarding 
paper submission and the 
deadline for next yearÕs sub- 
mission will be announced in 
the Fall/Winter 2019 news- 
letter.
2018 Health Division Student Paper
Award Winner - Emily Allen Paine, PhD

ÒEmbodied Disruption: ÔSorting outÕ Gender and 
Nonconformity in the DoctorÕs Office.Ó

Among LGBTQ people, those who are gender noncon- 
forming (GNC) may be at heightened risk of both dis- 
crimination and underutilization of healthcare - yet lit- 
tle is known about what happens during healthcare en- 
counters to compel GNC individuals to continue or 
avoid seeking future care. This study qualitatively ex- 
amines the healthcare experiences of a racially diverse 
sample of 34 adult LGBTQ cis women, transgender 
men, and non-binary individuals in a metropolitan area 
of the United States who do not conform to dominant 
biomedical schemas of sex and gender. GNC individuals 
experience embodied disruption in medical settings when 
patients are mis/recognized; providers respond to disrup- 
tion in ways that further distress patients. Broadly, par- 
ticipants reported similar experiences across racial and 
gender identities, but patients manage disruption some- 
what differently depending on their embodied positions 
to gender norms. This study contributes to literatures 
of stress, stigma, and sex, gender and sexuality within 
medicine by illuminating how stigmatizing healthcare 
interactions work to deter LGBTQ individuals from 
seeking healthcare. Findings point to the importance of 
considering both structural factors and embodied visi- 
bility in future research addressing how stigma and dis- 
crimination manifest within health settings to disad- 
vantage LGBTQ groups.

Emily Allen Paine, medical sociologist 
and scholar of gender and sexuality, re- 
ceived her PhD from the University of 
Texas at Austin, where she was affiliated 
with the Urban Ethnography Lab and 
the Population Research Center. Emily 
is currently a Fellow in the NIH Post- 
doctoral Training Program at the HIV 
Center at Columbia University and the 
New York State Psychiatric Institute.

As a Fellow, Emily will write a book about how gender, sexu- 
al, and racial schemas within medicine shape healthcare expe- 
riences and decision-making among LGBTQ people. She will 
also receive additional training in order to design and launch 
new studies at the intersection of HIV/AIDS, identity, stig- 
ma, technology, and social relationships.
Fall/Winter Newsletter Submissions

We want to hear from a broad range of our membership!
It is important for us to communicate with one another 
about innovations in teaching, research, and policy as 
well as commentary on the things that are happening 
politically, both locally and nationally. Your contribu- 
tions can include images as well as written text, as long 
as they can be easily reproduced and transferred. As al- 
ways, we welcome announcements of recent publications, 
media appearances, reports on community events, job 
opportunities, and other breaking news from Health Di- 
vision members.

WhatÕs news?
Please submit all newsletter items to
Meredith Bergey 
(meredith.bergey@villanova.edu
).






 

Public Health Initiatives to Reduce Smoking
Commentary by Danielle Rhubart, PhD
Over fifty years have lapsed since the surgeon general concluded that Òcigarette smoking is a 
health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial 
actionÓ (National Library of Medicine, n.d.). Since then, a wide variety of public health initia- 
tives and policies have been enacted to reduce cigarette smoking, and tobacco use more 
broadly. The patchwork of state and local initiatives coupled with federal laws have resulted 
in a good deal of success (Hopkins et al. 2010). Though, in many parts of the US, smoking is 
still widely prevalent. For example, nearly one in four adults smoke in West Virginia, Ken- 
tucky, and Arkansas. Those individuals who continue to smoke, as well as those who are ex- 
posed to second-hand smoke, are at risk of a wide array of adverse health outcomes, including 
a number of cancers, stroke, coronary heart disease, chronic OPD, pneumonia, emphysema, 
bronchitis, and diabetes (HHS 2014; Sherratt et al. 2017, Helms et al. 2017).
The most recent, sweeping, and targeted measure in this series of public health initiatives was the 2016 Department 
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulation which bans smoking in or near public housing (Federal Reg- 
ister 2016). The new regulation gave housing agencies 18 months to implement the new regulation, which took full 
effect on July 31st 2018. In this article, I will provide some background to this new regulation and also identify path- 
ways for future research around it.
Public housing includes multi-unit buildings as well as Section 8 housing programs. Of those in public housing, it is 
estimated that approximately 33.6 percent smoke cigarettes (Helms et al. 2017). Moreover, it is nearly impossible to 
prevent second-hand smoke from moving between multiunit dwellings. The smoke filters through air systems, pip- 
ing, electrical routes, and cracks (Kraev et al. 2009). Even in trace amounts, second-hand smoke can cause health 
risks for other residents. In 2006, the Surgeon General concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to second- 
hand smoke (HHS 2006). Therefore, not only are those residing in a unit facing a wide variety of health risks, but so 
are those in adjacent units. It is estimated that banning smoking in public housing could result in a savings of over 
500 million dollars per year from health-care costs associated with second-hand smoke, expenses associated with 
renovating units occupied by smokers, and fires caused by smoking (King et al. 2013).
The implementation of HUDÕs new regulation raises a number of questions for public health and social science re- 
searchers. First, medical and health-focused social scientists can play a key role in exploring new questions around 
the effectiveness of this new regulation. A variety of resources were provided to Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to 
assist with effectively implementing the new regulation. As different PHAs adopted different strategies for imple- 
menting the new regulation, social scientists can help to explore which strategies were most effective and what indi- 
vidual-, cultural-, and contextual factors help to explain successful smoking cessation among residents. Moreover, 
this change in context (i.e. the smoking ban in public housing) can be placed within the Social Determinants of 
Health (SDOH) framework to examine long-term health outcomes associated with changes to health behavior and 
in the health environment.
Second, while those who violate the new smoking ban will not be evicted without a warning system, it is likely that 
evictions will take place among those who are unable to or choose not to stop smoking in or near their homes. 
While this will be a difficult population to track, health-focused social scientists should look to explore the preva- 
lence of this phenomenon, as well as the circumstances, risk factors, and potentially unequal implementation of it. In 
addition, for those who are displaced, the short- and long-term consequences on mental, emotional, and physical 
well-being of such an eviction must also be explored.
Third, further research could focus on the ethics and implications of this new regulation. For example, a great deal 
of normative work has been dedicated to advocating for tobacco control under a human rights framework (e.g. 
Dresler et al. 2012). Indeed, the human rights violations that occur during the production, sale, and consumption of 
tobacco products rightfully require greater action. However, other work uncovers the lived experiences of those 
who smoke, the stigma they encounter (e.g. Ritchie et al. 2010), and the challenges they face as they attempt to 
adapt to new top-down policies that could threaten their access to shelter. In particular, this policy targets a specific 
low-income segment of society. If in fact cost savings was a driving factor, why were not other groups that rely on 
publicly-sponsored or subsidized resources targeted (e.g. federal employees)? Researchers should give voice to the



 

 


(É.continued from page 4)
apparent targeting of this new regulation.
As this new regulation takes shape in the lives of those 
who live in public housing, there are a number of new re- 
search questions for social scientists to explore. From as- 
sessing the effectiveness of this public health initiative  
and the potential for its unequal implementation to exam- 
ining the lived experiences of those who face eviction, dis- 
placement, and stigma Ð there are many pathways for us 
to explore. And those health scholars within the Social 
Problems network are well suited to critically analyze and 
give voice to this new and changing context.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2016. ÒState Tobacco Activi- 
ties Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System.Ó Retrieved 
from https://www.cdc.gov/statesystem/cigaretteuseadult.html
Dresler, C., Lando, H., Schneider, N., Sehgal, H. 2012. ÒHuman rights- 
based approach to tobacco control.Ó Tobacco Control 21:208-211.
Federal Register. 2016. Instituting Smoke-Free Public Housing. Housing 
and Urban Development Department. 81 FR 87430, 87430-
87444
Helms, V., King, B., Ashley, P. 2017. ÒCigarette smoking and adverse 
health outcomes among adults receiving federal housing assis- 
tance.Ó Preventive Medicine 99:171-177.
Hopkins, D., Razi, S., Leeks, K., Kalra, G., Chattopadhyay, S., Soler, R.
2010. ÒSmokefree Policies to Reduce Tobacco Use: A Systemat- 
ic Review.Ó American Journal of Preventive Medicine 38(2):S275- 
S289.
King, B., Peck, R., Babb, S. 2013. ÒCost Savings Associated with Prohibit- 
ing Smoking in U.S. Subsidized Housing.Ó American Journal of 
Preventative Medicine, 44(6):631-634.
Kraev, T.A., Adamkiewicz, G., Hammond, S.K., Spengler, J.D. 2009. 
ÒIndoor concentrations of nicotine in low-income, multi-unit 
housing: associations with smoking behaviours and housing 
characteristics.Ó Tobacco Control 18(6):438-44.
National Library of Medicine. n.d. The Reports of the Surgeon General: 
Smoking and Health, 1964. The Office of the Surgeon General. 
Retrieved from https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/B/M/Q/
Ritchie, D., Amos, A., Martin, C. 2010. ÒBut it just has that sort of feel 
about it, a leperÓ ÐStigma, smoke-free legislation and public 
health. Nicotine & Tobacco Research 12(6):622-629.
U.S.	Department of Health and Human Services. 2006. Office of the Sur- 
geon General. ÒThe health consequences of involuntary tobacco 
smoke: A report of the Surgeon General.Ó Retrieved from 
https://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/ 
secondhandsmoke/fullreport.pdf
°
Dr. Rhubart is currently a full-time lecturer in the Department 
of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work and is a Faculty 
Research Fellow with UD's Human Rights Center. She has ex- 
pertise in environmental sociology and medical sociology. Her 
research examines the intersections of place, policy, and envi- 
ronmental change. Her work has been published in Population 
Research and Policy Review, Environmental Practice,
and Society and Natural Resources. She has also published pub- 
lic reports with the Center for Rural Pennsylvania and the Carsey 
School of Public Policy.


The 2019 Critical Dialogue Session honors past 
Chairs and long-time active members of the SSSP 
Health Division by inviting them to a Critical Dia- 
logue Session on Sunday, 11 August at 4:30pm. 
Honored participants include:
*	Barbara Katz Rothman (Graduate Center, CUNY)
*	Peter Conrad (Brandeis University)
*	Valerie Leiter (Simmons University)
*	Deborah Carr (Boston University)
*	William D. Cabin (Temple University)
*	Eric R. Wright (Georgia State University)
Invited panel members will discuss their current 
work and future directions for health, health policy 
and health services. There will also be opportunity 
for questions, answers, and engaged discussion.

 
At last yearÕs Health Division meeting, members 
voted to honor a local New York City organization 
for the praxis of social justice in the area of health, 
health policy, and/or health services. We urge our 
division members to nominate a local New York City 
organization for the first yearly Health Division 
Community Health Praxis Award.
Please send the name and a brief paragraph describ- 
ing the mission and service of the organization to    D 
e b o ra ( d eb o ra . p a t e rn i t i@ so n om a . e d u ) a n d 
Meredith (meredith.bergey@villanova.edu) no later 
than Monday, 22 July 2019. The award will be 
presented to a representative from the organization at 
the Health Division meeting.



 



 
 
I want to express my gratitude for the 
opportunity to serve the Health Division. 
I have appreciated the involvement of 
many Division members in putting to- 
gether an exciting program for the New 
York meetings, and for the members who 
have contributed their achievements and 
expertise to our bi-annual newsletters and 
annual Division meetings. I thank my Co
-Chair, Meredith Bergey, for her earnest partnership and dedi- 
cation to the betterment of the Health Division. It has been 
both my pleasure and an honor to work with Meredith. 
Michele Koontz has made our work nearly effortless - she is 
truly the backbone of our Division and SSSP (Thank you, 
Michele!). I anticipate continuing my involvement with the 
Health Division; it has been my academic home for more than 
30 years. I look forward to seeing many of you in New York 
this August and in meetings to come. Safe travels!
-- Warmly, Debora