IVAC Doctoral Researcher Baldeep Dhaliwal Awarded Fulbright Grant

Baldeep K. Dhaliwal, a doctoral researcher at IVAC and a PhD candidate in Social and Behavioral Interventions, has won a Fulbright research grant to India. This Fulbright will support her dissertation research to study the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) program, better understand how urban ASHAs can be supported in meeting government objectives, and explore how they contribute to the health of urban communities. This research aims to provide essential data to guide conversations, support advocacy efforts, and potentially facilitate policy change. Moreover, this research can also contribute to strengthening urban community health. The urban ASHA program is catered towards supporting a population of India’s highest risk populations, including slum and migrant populations, who have been subjected to gross health inequities. Historically, there has been limited data on how these populations are able to access and afford care. Completing this research on the urban ASHA program is an essential first step to begin to understand these broad, complex issues of health delivery among marginalized urban populations.