Dr. Ruthbeth Finerman Professor and Department Chair E-mail: finerman@memphis.edu Phone: (901) 678-3334 Office: Manning Hall 316

Research Focus

Applied medical anthropology; family health and caregiving, human sexuality and childbirth; ethnomedicine; mental health; international health services delivery and barriers to care among immigrant, refugee, and economically disadvantaged populations; indigenous and peasant populations in South and Central America.

Academic Summary 

Dr. Finerman received her PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1985. She specializes in research and teaching in applied medical anthropology, focusing on family health and caregiving, international health services delivery, medical choice and change, human sexuality and childbirth, ethnomedicine, and mental health. She was a Fulbright Scholar in 1999 and has received The University of Memphis Outstanding Young Researcher Award, the University of Memphis Distinguished Teaching Award, the College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Thomas Briggs Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award.

Dr. Finerman has 30 years of fieldwork experience among indigenous and peasant populations in South and Central America, including a longitudinal study of medical change and medicinal plant use in Andean Ecuador, and an evaluation of child survival programs in Guatemala. She has served as consultant or technical advisor on health projects for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Health Organization. Research in Memphis includes enhanced health services delivery to immigrant and refugee groups, and populations facing health disparities. She collaborates with local agencies such as the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department, Methodist Healthcare, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on infant mortality prevention, barriers to health services among Latino immigrants and economically disadvantaged populations, culturally appropriate guidelines to protect human subjects, and cultural competency training for local health providers. 

Recent Publications

Camp, J., R. Barfield, V. Rodriguez, A. Young, R. Finerman, and M. Cañiza. Challenges Faced by Research Ethics Committees in El Salvador: Results from a Focus Group Study. Developing World Bioethics, pp. 1-7, 2007.

Finerman, Ruthbeth. Globalization, Health, and the Environment: An Integrated Perspective. American Anthropologist 109(2): June 2007. Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology Advisory Board & Contributor; M. and C. Ember, Editors. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.

Finerman, Ruthbeth. “Saraguros.” In Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology, edited by M. and C. Ember, 937-947. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.

Finerman, Ruthbeth, and Ross Sackett. “Using Home Gardens to Decipher Health and Healing in the Andes.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 17, no. 4 (Dec 2003): 459-482.

Finerman, Ruthbeth. "Speaking of Health: How Medical Interpreters Filter and Experience Illness Narratives." In Understanding and Applying Medical Anthropology, second edition, edited by P. Brown. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 2003.

Finerman, Ruthbeth, C. Blanchard-Horan, S. Jowers, and S. Fossett. 2003. “The Dual Enrolled as a Disadvantaged Population: Developing Culturally Informed Interventions for Tennessee’s Medicaid/Medicare Women.” Journal of Health and Human Services Administration. 26(3): 269-97.

Westermeyer, J., senior ed. and Ruthbeth Finerman, contributing ed. Cultural Psychiatry Lexicon for the ICD-10, 176-186. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 1997.

Finerman, Ruthbeth, and Linda Bennett, eds. "Guilt, Blame, and Shame: Responsibility in Health and Sickness.” Social Science and Medicine 40 (1995).

Finerman, Ruthbeth. “ ‘Parental Incompetence’ and ‘Selective Neglect’: Blaming the Victim in Child Survival.” Social Science and Medicine 40 (1995): 5-13.

Finerman, Ruthbeth. “Saraguro: Medical Choices, Medical Changes.” In Portraits of Culture: Ethnographic Originals, edited by M. Ember and D. Levinson, 23-59. New York: Prentice Hall, 1995.

Recent Policy Papers and Applied Reports

Finerman, Ruthbeth, Espi Ralson. Medical Interpreter Evaluation. The Med, 20 pp. 2006.

Cutts, T., S. Matimelo, S. de Gruchy, Ruthbeth Finerman, et al. Participatory Inquiry into Religious Health Assets, Networks, and Agency: Whitehaven. Methodist Healthcare Report, 28 pp. 2007.

Doan, S., T. Alexander, C. Clark, P. Jarrett, S. Kennedy, K. Pritchard, S. Nelson, Ruthbeth Finerman, and T. Cutts. Memphis Religious Health Assets Mapping: Participatory Inquiry into Religious Health Assets, Networks, and Agency: McLemore/LeMoyne-Owen. Methodist Healthcare. www.RHAM.org. 2008

Mendoza, M., L. Burrell, R. Finerman, S. Redding, S. Schenk, and M. Campbell. En Memphis: Hablamos Juntos Needs Assessment. Boston, MA: Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, 2003.

Finerman, Ruthbeth. Disadvantaged Patient Population Study: Mammography Screening for Dual Enrolled Women in Three Tennessee Counties. Washington, DC: Health Care Finance Administration/ MSFMC, 2001.

Finerman, Ruthbeth. DASPRO: Mammography Screening for Dual Enrolled Women in Three Tennessee Counties. Memphis: Mid-South Foundation for Medical Care, 2001.

Access Project. Memphis CAMS Study: Barriers to Health Care Among Uninsured Latino Immigrants. Boston, MA: Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, 2000.

Finerman, Ruthbeth. DASPRO: Considerations for Hispanic Health Interventions. Memphis: Mid-South Foundation for Medical Care, 2000.

Finerman, Ruthbeth. WHO Cocaine Project: Key Informant Study International Report. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1995.

Research Projects

Finerman, Ruthbeth (PI).  Community Voice Infant Mortality Prevention Project Evaluation. TN Department of Health and March of Dimes, 2008-11.

Finerman, Ruthbeth (PI). Community-Based Asset Mapping Project (CHAMP). Methodist Healthcare, 2007-09.

Finerman, Ruthbeth (PI). Breastfeeding Disparities in Memphis. Urban Child Institute/MDSCHD, 2006.

Finerman, Ruthbeth (PI). Cultural Competency Training. Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN, 2004.

Finerman, Ruthbeth (PI). Caring for Children from Other Cultures. Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN, 2003.

Finerman, Ruthbeth (PI). “En Memphis: Hablamos Juntos.” Address Cultural and Language Barriers to Health Care for Latinos in Memphis. Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, Memphis, TN, 2003.

Scarinsci, I. (PI). “Cervical Cancer Among Latinas.” National Institutes of Health, 2002.

Finerman, Ruthbeth (PI). “Mammography Screening Among Dual Enrolled Women In Three Tennessee Counties.” Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA), 2000.

Finerman, Ruthbeth (PI). “Latino Barriers to Health Services.” Access Project: Latino-Memphis Connection (LMC), 2000.

Finerman, Ruthbeth (PI). Women’s Care & Family Health in Ecuador. Fulbright, 1999.

Finerman, Ruthbeth (PI). ADHD and Medication Use in Memphis Area Schools. Assisi Foundation, 1998.

Finerman, Ruthbeth (PI). Refugee and Immigrant Health Needs in Memphis. Assisi Foundation, 1998.

Awards

CAS Excellence in Teaching Award, The University of Memphis, 2005

Fulbright Scholar, Fulbright Foundation, 1999

Professional Development Award, The University of Memphis, 1999

Thomas Briggs Foundation Teaching Award, The University of Memphis, 1998

Distinguished Teaching Award, The University of Memphis, 1997

Early Career Research Award, The University of Memphis, 1990

Leadership Positions

Stephen Polgar Award Committee Chair, Society for Medical Anthropology, 2008

Spring 2008 Conference Program Chair, Society for Medical Anthropology, 2007-08

Journal Editorial Board, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Society for Medical Anthropology, 2002-Present

Membership Committee Co-Chair, Society for Applied Anthropology, 1995-1998.

Board of Directors, Society for Applied Anthropology, 2002-2005

SACS Accreditation Audit Committee, 2001-2004

Journal Editorial Board, Human Organization, Society for Applied Anthropology, 1999-2004

Advisory Board, Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology, 2000-2003

Executive Board, Latino-Memphis Connection (LMC), 1999-2001

Publications Committee Chair, Society for Applied Anthropology, 1998-2001

Executive Committee, Society for Medical Anthropology, 1997-2001

Editor, Anthropology Newsletter: Society for Medical Anthropology, 1997-2001

Advisory Council, Latino-Memphis Connection (LMC), 1997-1999

Courses Taught at The University of Memphis