Dr. Kristin M. Kostick was a medical anthropologist and Research Associate at the Institute for Community Research in Hartford, CT. Her primary research interests lie in the improvement of mental and sexual health services, including HIV/STI prevention and intervention in resource-poor settings. She has conducted field research in South Asia (India) and Africa (Mali, Mauritius). Her research combines qualitative and quantitative methods to explore innovative approaches to sexual health and illness from an applied socio-cultural and bio-psychological perspective. Her current research at ICR focuses on sexual health among urban young adult MDMA (Ecstasy)-users, as well as gynecological and psychosocial symptom markers of mental and sexual health among women in the greater Hartford area.

Publications:

Kostick KM, Schensul S, Singh R, Pelto P & Saggurti N. (2011) “A methodology for building culture and gender norms into intervention: An example from Mumbai, India.” Social Science & Medicine; doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.03.029.

Kostick KM, Schensul SL, Jadhav K, Singh R, Bavadekar A, Saggurti N. (2010). Treatment seeking, vaginal discharge and psychosocial distress among women in urban Mumbai. Culture, Medicine & Psychiatry, 34(3):529-47.

Kostick K, Schensul, S, Sayed TK, Abdelwahed MB (2010) “Religiosity, and       emotional health among Mulsim Women in urban poor India.” In L’Islam en anthropologie de la santé mentale: Théorie, ethnographie et clinique d’un regard alternatif. Münster-Hamburg-London-Wien-London. Lit Verlag : Études d'anthropologie sociale, pp175-200.

Kostick K, Whitley R and Bush P (2010) “Client-Centeredness in Supported         Employment: Specialist and Supervisor Perspectives.” Journal of Mental Health. 19(6):523-31

Whitley R, Kostick K, and P. Bush (2010). “The desirable attributes of supported employment specialists: an empirically-grounded framework.” Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, March 2010.

Whitley R, Kostick K, and P. Bush (2009). “Supported employment strategies to   assist clients with severe mental illness and criminal justice issues.”  Psychiatric Services, 60(12): 1637-41.