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Papers by Dina Refki

International Political Science Review

What makes female candidates for political office persist in their quest? Using self-determinatio... more What makes female candidates for political office persist in their quest? Using self-determination and casual agency theories, we hypothesize that female candidates for public office need to construct and maintain a political identity in their quest for office. Through interviews, we explore the narratives of 35 women who ran for public office at the state and local levels in the United States. Half of the women persisted to the end of the race, whereas the other half aborted their campaign at some point before elections. We show that those who persisted performed conscious and deliberate political identity work which neutralized threats from the external environment, leveraged opportunities, and strengthened political identities. Internalizing, identifying with, and expressing oneself as a political actor is critical to resilience as a candidate for political office. Understanding threats to fragmentation of political identity is a critical implication for women running for office.

The 2000 Census shows that immigrants have settled upstate and downstate, in rural, suburban and ... more The 2000 Census shows that immigrants have settled upstate and downstate, in rural, suburban and urban New York communities. Written with youth program providers in mind, this factsheet provides detailed statistics on NYS immigrant youth and their families

The Journal of Modern African Studies, 2017

Previous literature on women's representation in the Ugandan Parliament painted a grim pictur... more Previous literature on women's representation in the Ugandan Parliament painted a grim picture of women exploited by political leaders, and brought into Parliament and other political spaces by a benevolent dictator who allowed their entry to extend and deepen his political networks. These women were expected to accept a subordinate and inferior place, and to defer to male authority. Female members cooperated dutifully by ‘knowing their place’ and by actively supporting the ‘hand that fed them’. Studies noted that women lacked gender consciousness and even the analytical power to understand the implications of the policies they helped pass. There was a general consensus that patriarchal attitudes in Parliament diminished…

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have significant impacts on social determinants of health. Imm... more The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have significant impacts on social determinants of health. Immigrant communities often bear a disproportionate burden of the crisis because of the immigration experience, which serves as an additional social determinant of health. Evidence suggests that these communities are hard hit by economic instability, food insecurities, isolation, lack of safe housing and safe neighborhoods, environmental dynamics that cut them off from systems of support, lack of sufficient access to educational tools that have become critical in remote and digital learning, limited access to health and healthcare resources, low health literacy, and restricted access to culturally and linguistically competent services. In this review we (a) synthesize literature on structural and community level causes of health disparities in immigrant communities; (b) summarize evidence-based interventions that increase collective efficacy in managing social determinants of health in immi...

The Mainstreaming framework evolved from a research study with family planning centers that took ... more The Mainstreaming framework evolved from a research study with family planning centers that took place from 2009 – 2012. The study tested the correlation between enhanced organizational management system, the provision of patient centered communication, and improved patient health outcomes. Enhanced management system was measured by ability to integrate the needs of Communication Vulnerable Patients (CVP) into an organization’s operating structure including its design, culture, data, information, and monitoring/evaluation systems. Improved patient outcomes were measured through increased testing for STD with Latina patients. The study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, a baseline survey deepened understanding of the organizational structures. In Phase 2, six clinics were purposively selected from the pool of survey respondents to participate in the study. The 6 clinics were divided into two groups. A delayed intervention methodology was used to allow an opportunity to use Gr...

Linguistic barriers lead to denial of needed benefits and services, client misunderstanding of tr... more Linguistic barriers lead to denial of needed benefits and services, client misunderstanding of treatment, receipt of the wrong benefits or services, significant delays in treatment, misdiagnosis, clients’ poor decision making, ethical compromises (e.g. difficulty obtaining informed consent, medical errors and clients not being given all available options of care), and rise in the cost of medical care. The encounter between Limited English Proficient patients and healthcare providers need to be mediated by a trained linguistic broker. To pave the way for setting uniform standards for healthcare interpreters, this paper developed a list of core competencies that are critical to every beginner interpreter. The development of a preliminary list of core competencies was informed by an extensive consultation of literature, a review of healthcare interpreter training curricula, and solicitation of the perspectives of curricular developers, interpreters, policy makers, administrators and pr...

The Mainstreaming framework evolved from a research study with family planning centers that took ... more The Mainstreaming framework evolved from a research study with family planning centers that took place from 2009 2012. The study tested the correlation between enhanced organizational management system, the provision of patient centered communication, and improved patient health outcomes. Enhanced management system was measured by ability to integrate the needs of Communication Vulnerable Patients (CVP) into an organization's operating structure including its design, culture, data, information, and monitoring/evaluation systems. Improved patient outcomes were measured through increased testing for STD with Latina patients. The study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, a baseline survey deepened understanding of the organizational structures. In Phase 2, six clinics were purposively selected from the pool of survey respondents to participate in the study. The 6 clinics were divided into two groups. A delayed intervention methodology was used to allow an opportunity to use Gr...

Politics and Governance, 2016

The uprisings that led to regime change during the early period of the Arab Spring were initially... more The uprisings that led to regime change during the early period of the Arab Spring were initially inclusive and pluralistic in nature, with men and women from every political and religious orientation engaging actively in political activities on the street and in virtual spaces. While there was an opening of political space for women and the inclusion of demands of marginalized groups in the activists’ agenda, the struggle to reimagine national identities that balance Islamic roots and secular yearnings is still ongoing in many countries in the region. This paper seeks to deepen understanding of the extent to which the pluralistic sentiments and openness to accepting the rights women have persisted following the uprising. We aim to examine changes in attitudes towards women’s equality in countries that underwent regime change through popular uprisings during revolutionary upheavals of the Arab Spring and in countries where regimes have remained unchanged. Using available data from c...

The Journal of Modern African Studies, 2017

Previous literature on women's representation in the Ugandan Parliament painted a grim pictur... more Previous literature on women's representation in the Ugandan Parliament painted a grim picture of women exploited by political leaders, and brought into Parliament and other political spaces by a benevolent dictator who allowed their entry to extend and deepen his political networks. These women were expected to accept a subordinate and inferior place, and to defer to male authority. Female members cooperated dutifully by ‘knowing their place’ and by actively supporting the ‘hand that fed them’. Studies noted that women lacked gender consciousness and even the analytical power to understand the implications of the policies they helped pass. There was a general consensus that patriarchal attitudes in Parliament diminished…

Across the United States, women with limited English proficiency (LEP) continue to experience ine... more Across the United States, women with limited English proficiency (LEP) continue to experience inequitable and unsafe family planning services. Despite governmental legislation mandating language access and professional association guidelines to prevent linguistic disparities, language barriers continue to lead many LEP women to avoid services and to use services unsafely. One of the first statewide surveys of language access in family planning was conducted in New York. Fifty-nine family planning facilities (30% response rate) completed a written survey to describe programs, practices and policies related to language access and the factors that may explain variability in language access conditions. Respondents represented rural and urban settings throughout the state. Ninety-seven percent facilities indicated documenting if a patient needs help to communicate. While 54% reported using bilingual staff to interpret only 27% reported ways to ensure staff who interpret know to do so cor...

International Political Science Review

What makes female candidates for political office persist in their quest? Using self-determinatio... more What makes female candidates for political office persist in their quest? Using self-determination and casual agency theories, we hypothesize that female candidates for public office need to construct and maintain a political identity in their quest for office. Through interviews, we explore the narratives of 35 women who ran for public office at the state and local levels in the United States. Half of the women persisted to the end of the race, whereas the other half aborted their campaign at some point before elections. We show that those who persisted performed conscious and deliberate political identity work which neutralized threats from the external environment, leveraged opportunities, and strengthened political identities. Internalizing, identifying with, and expressing oneself as a political actor is critical to resilience as a candidate for political office. Understanding threats to fragmentation of political identity is a critical implication for women running for office.

The 2000 Census shows that immigrants have settled upstate and downstate, in rural, suburban and ... more The 2000 Census shows that immigrants have settled upstate and downstate, in rural, suburban and urban New York communities. Written with youth program providers in mind, this factsheet provides detailed statistics on NYS immigrant youth and their families

The Journal of Modern African Studies, 2017

Previous literature on women's representation in the Ugandan Parliament painted a grim pictur... more Previous literature on women's representation in the Ugandan Parliament painted a grim picture of women exploited by political leaders, and brought into Parliament and other political spaces by a benevolent dictator who allowed their entry to extend and deepen his political networks. These women were expected to accept a subordinate and inferior place, and to defer to male authority. Female members cooperated dutifully by ‘knowing their place’ and by actively supporting the ‘hand that fed them’. Studies noted that women lacked gender consciousness and even the analytical power to understand the implications of the policies they helped pass. There was a general consensus that patriarchal attitudes in Parliament diminished…

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have significant impacts on social determinants of health. Imm... more The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have significant impacts on social determinants of health. Immigrant communities often bear a disproportionate burden of the crisis because of the immigration experience, which serves as an additional social determinant of health. Evidence suggests that these communities are hard hit by economic instability, food insecurities, isolation, lack of safe housing and safe neighborhoods, environmental dynamics that cut them off from systems of support, lack of sufficient access to educational tools that have become critical in remote and digital learning, limited access to health and healthcare resources, low health literacy, and restricted access to culturally and linguistically competent services. In this review we (a) synthesize literature on structural and community level causes of health disparities in immigrant communities; (b) summarize evidence-based interventions that increase collective efficacy in managing social determinants of health in immi...

The Mainstreaming framework evolved from a research study with family planning centers that took ... more The Mainstreaming framework evolved from a research study with family planning centers that took place from 2009 – 2012. The study tested the correlation between enhanced organizational management system, the provision of patient centered communication, and improved patient health outcomes. Enhanced management system was measured by ability to integrate the needs of Communication Vulnerable Patients (CVP) into an organization’s operating structure including its design, culture, data, information, and monitoring/evaluation systems. Improved patient outcomes were measured through increased testing for STD with Latina patients. The study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, a baseline survey deepened understanding of the organizational structures. In Phase 2, six clinics were purposively selected from the pool of survey respondents to participate in the study. The 6 clinics were divided into two groups. A delayed intervention methodology was used to allow an opportunity to use Gr...

Linguistic barriers lead to denial of needed benefits and services, client misunderstanding of tr... more Linguistic barriers lead to denial of needed benefits and services, client misunderstanding of treatment, receipt of the wrong benefits or services, significant delays in treatment, misdiagnosis, clients’ poor decision making, ethical compromises (e.g. difficulty obtaining informed consent, medical errors and clients not being given all available options of care), and rise in the cost of medical care. The encounter between Limited English Proficient patients and healthcare providers need to be mediated by a trained linguistic broker. To pave the way for setting uniform standards for healthcare interpreters, this paper developed a list of core competencies that are critical to every beginner interpreter. The development of a preliminary list of core competencies was informed by an extensive consultation of literature, a review of healthcare interpreter training curricula, and solicitation of the perspectives of curricular developers, interpreters, policy makers, administrators and pr...

The Mainstreaming framework evolved from a research study with family planning centers that took ... more The Mainstreaming framework evolved from a research study with family planning centers that took place from 2009 2012. The study tested the correlation between enhanced organizational management system, the provision of patient centered communication, and improved patient health outcomes. Enhanced management system was measured by ability to integrate the needs of Communication Vulnerable Patients (CVP) into an organization's operating structure including its design, culture, data, information, and monitoring/evaluation systems. Improved patient outcomes were measured through increased testing for STD with Latina patients. The study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, a baseline survey deepened understanding of the organizational structures. In Phase 2, six clinics were purposively selected from the pool of survey respondents to participate in the study. The 6 clinics were divided into two groups. A delayed intervention methodology was used to allow an opportunity to use Gr...

Politics and Governance, 2016

The uprisings that led to regime change during the early period of the Arab Spring were initially... more The uprisings that led to regime change during the early period of the Arab Spring were initially inclusive and pluralistic in nature, with men and women from every political and religious orientation engaging actively in political activities on the street and in virtual spaces. While there was an opening of political space for women and the inclusion of demands of marginalized groups in the activists’ agenda, the struggle to reimagine national identities that balance Islamic roots and secular yearnings is still ongoing in many countries in the region. This paper seeks to deepen understanding of the extent to which the pluralistic sentiments and openness to accepting the rights women have persisted following the uprising. We aim to examine changes in attitudes towards women’s equality in countries that underwent regime change through popular uprisings during revolutionary upheavals of the Arab Spring and in countries where regimes have remained unchanged. Using available data from c...

The Journal of Modern African Studies, 2017

Previous literature on women's representation in the Ugandan Parliament painted a grim pictur... more Previous literature on women's representation in the Ugandan Parliament painted a grim picture of women exploited by political leaders, and brought into Parliament and other political spaces by a benevolent dictator who allowed their entry to extend and deepen his political networks. These women were expected to accept a subordinate and inferior place, and to defer to male authority. Female members cooperated dutifully by ‘knowing their place’ and by actively supporting the ‘hand that fed them’. Studies noted that women lacked gender consciousness and even the analytical power to understand the implications of the policies they helped pass. There was a general consensus that patriarchal attitudes in Parliament diminished…

Across the United States, women with limited English proficiency (LEP) continue to experience ine... more Across the United States, women with limited English proficiency (LEP) continue to experience inequitable and unsafe family planning services. Despite governmental legislation mandating language access and professional association guidelines to prevent linguistic disparities, language barriers continue to lead many LEP women to avoid services and to use services unsafely. One of the first statewide surveys of language access in family planning was conducted in New York. Fifty-nine family planning facilities (30% response rate) completed a written survey to describe programs, practices and policies related to language access and the factors that may explain variability in language access conditions. Respondents represented rural and urban settings throughout the state. Ninety-seven percent facilities indicated documenting if a patient needs help to communicate. While 54% reported using bilingual staff to interpret only 27% reported ways to ensure staff who interpret know to do so cor...