Pilar A. Parra |
| Research Associate & Senior Lecturer |
| 3M07 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall |
| DNS |
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| Phone: (607) 255-0063 |
| Fax: (607) 255-0178 |
| Email: pap2@cornell.edu |
| View Cornell Contact Info |
Biographical Statement:
The focus of my research in both the U.S. and in the international field is one of prevention with special emphasis on applied research. My research informs the design, test and evaluation of interventions to achieve long-term health behavioral change. I examine: 1) the behaviors and practices that enhance or detriment health status of individuals; 2) the effect of environmental factors on health; 3) and how culture and ethnicity shape health values, attitudes and behaviors among minorities and immigrant populations. My work in developing countries focuses on the implementation of primary health services through programs based on local resources and knowledge. Special attention is given to women's roles and the promotion of community members participation. |
Courses Taught:
Sociology of Health and Ethnic Minorities (LSP/Dev Soc 2200)
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Current Professional Activities:
1999 ?present Member of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Diversity Catalyst Team.
2000 ?present Faculty Fellow. Latino Living Center.
2003 ?present Faculty Advisor for Lambda Pi Chi Latinas working for the community.
2005 ?present Faculty Advisor Biology and Society
2006 ?present Board member Latino Studies Program
2006 ? present Board member Cornell Farmworker Program
2007 ?present Faculty Advisor. Student Organization. Ithaca Free Clinic Initiative
Member American Public Health Association (listed as a reviewer)
Member American Sociological Association |
Education:
Fluent in English and Spanish. Some knowledge in reading and speaking German.
1989-1992 Post Doctoral Fellow Rutgers-Princeton
1989 Ph.D Sociology. University of Wisconsin-Madison
1984 M.S. Sociology. University of Wisconsin-Madison
1974 M.A. Intercultural Education. University of the Americas Cholula, Puebla, México
1971 B.A. Psychology. Autonomous University of Puebla, Puebla, México
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Current Research Activities:
Two complementary projects are under study: 1) a follow-up to the project that examines the integration of immigrant populations in rural communities (Hatch NYC-159441), and 2) access to health services of the immigrant community (Hatch NYC 159473).
In the first project we will build on findings from our completed Fund for Rural America project in five New York communities. This study revealed that the integration of foreign born farmworkers in rural communities into the social and economic life of the community hinges largely on their ability to find year-round employment, English skills and their access to certain benefits like health services. Our results showed that two organizations play an important supportive role to immigrants, schools and churches. The follow-up study will investigate in detail the role of schools and churches in fostering immigrant access to jobs, housing, English language and other training, schooling and health care. The overall research objectives are: 1) production of detailed knowledge about the determination of the most common pathways and barriers to immigrant integration in new immigrant destination communities; 2) identification of specific ways that community organizations can foster social network formation and promote the integration of immigrants into community social and economic life; 3) specification of concrete and effective mechanisms to promote the integration of immigrants into social and economic life in new destination immigrant communities.
The second study (end October 1, 2008) focused in the development and testing of instruments to lay the groundwork for a methodology to reach immigrant residents in rural areas. A high proportion of Hispanics in the U.S. are without valid visas or residence permits, and some settling in rural areas. Immigrants are the main labor force in agriculture, are increasingly present in other occupational areas, and are likely to require a wider range of community resources. Nevertheless, immigrants to rural areas of the U.S. are typically poor with few material and human or social capital resources. The problem they face is how to get access to basic goods and services like health care, housing, transportation, when they are excluded from publicly available benefits.
In this study we developed a survey instrument to assess health access of immigrants in rural areas. Most items have been selected from national surveys where they have been translated and validated previously. Some items included measure alternative sources of health treatments utilized by uninsured immigrants, and these will require further testing. Since we were targeting a low literacy immigrant population we gave careful consideration of content and meaning of the items to ensure questions were culturally appropriate. We conducted about 25 interviews with immigrants. We complemented the development of the questionnaire with unstructured in-depth interviews allowing us to learn about the main challenges faced in meeting health needs in the respondent?s own words. We asked respondents to think on one event where a family member or themselves got sick and were in need of health services with or without health insurance and how they resolved their health problem. We also incorporated information from staff personnel that serve this population. Lastly, we adjusted the instrument with the feedback from these interviews. Results of this ground work will allow us to develop a major research proposal on the access and utilization of health services by recent immigrants regardless of their legal status, and to test the viability of a methodology ?respondent-driven sampling-- to secure a representative sample of undocumented immigrants and to establish measures of group affinity and identity. Preliminary findings showed that immigrants who worked in agriculture had in |
Current Extension Activities:
Member of the Diversity Catalyst Team
Member Task Force: Virtual Multi-Cultural Workforce Center
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Selected Publications:
Pfeffer M.J. and Pilar A. Parra. Community Response to Immigrants in New Destinations. Research and Policy Briefs. Community and Rural Development Institute (CARDI). Department of Development Sociology. Cornell University. November 2008
Parra Pilar A. and Max J. Pfeffer. New Immigrants in Rural Communities: The Challenges of Integration. In: The Border Next Door: New York Migraciones. Social Text 88, Vol 24., No.3, pp 81-98. Fall 2006.
Pfeffer Max J. and Pilar A. Parra. Immigrants and the Community: Community Perspectives. Cornell University. 1500 GPP Report #4, October 2005. Development Sociology. Division of Nutritional Sciences.
Pfeffer Max J. and Pilar A. Parra. Immigrants and the Community: Former Farmworkers. Cornell University. 1500 GPP 060047. Report #3, September 2005. Development Sociology. Division of Nutritional Sciences
Parra Pilar A. and Max J. Pfeffer. Immigrants and the Community: Farmworkers with Families. Cornell University. 1500 GPP 050357. Report #2, April 2005. Development Sociology. Division of Nutritional Sciences
Pfeffer Max J. and Pilar A. Parra. Immigrants and the Community. Cornell University.1500 GPP 11607. Report #1, November 2004. Development Sociology. Division of Nutritional Sciences
Book Review: The Worm in the Wheat. Rosalie Evans and Agrarian Struggle in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley of Mexico, 1906-1927, by Timothy J. Anderson, Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1998. In: Rural Sociology, Vol. 65. No.3.
Rodriguez E. and P. Parra A Review of New Yorks Health and Health Care Status: The
Challenges Ahead for 2000. In: New York in the 21st Century. Hirschl T. & Heaton T. (eds.) Praeger Publishers. Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. 1999:272-284.
"The Lost Knowledge: Breastfeeding Among Puerto Rican Women." In: Proceedings of the International Workshop in Dietary Assessment Methodologies. Diva M. Sanjur and Mauro Valencia. Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo (C.I.A.D). Camino a la Victoria Km. 6. Sonora, Mexico. Division of Nutritional Sciences-Cornell University. Ithaca NY. pp.153-168.
Parra Pilar A. and P. Guarnaccia. Ethnicity, Culture, and Resiliency in Caregivers of a Seriously Mentally Ill Family Member. In Resiliency in Ethnic Minority Families: Native and Immigrant American Families. McCubbin H., Thompson E., Thompson A., and Fromer J. Sage. Newberry Park, CA. pp. 431-450.
Cerdá Magdalena & Parra Pilar. "El Taller: Una Guia Para Extensionistas." (The Workshop: Guidelines for Agricultural and Health Extension Workers). Divison of Nutritional Sciences and Cornell International Institute for Food Agriculture and Development.
Guarnaccia Peter, Pilar A. Parra. Ethnicity, Social Status and Families Experiences of Caring for a Mentally Ill Family Member. Community Mental Health Journal. Vol. 32(3):243-260
Aguirre-Molina M. and Pilar A. Parra. Latino Youth and Familie as Active Participants in Planning Change: A Community-University Partnership Pp. 130-153. In Latino Families: Developing a Paradigm for Practice, Policy and Research. Zambrana Ruth (ed.) 1995. Sage. Newberry Park CA.
Parra, Pilar A. Midwives in the Mexican Health System. Social Science and Medicine. Vol.37. (11): 1321-1329.
Guarnaccia Peter, Pilar A. Parra, Aura Deschamps, G. Milstein, N. Argiles. Si Dios Quiere: Hispanic Families' Experiences of Caring for a Seriously Mentally Ill Family Member. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. Vol 16:187-215.
Parra Pilar A. La Mujer Rural, las Comadronas y el Sistema Mexicano de Salud. Revista Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos. El Colegio de México. Vol.6(1):69-88.
Slesinger Doris, Parra Pilar. Blacks in Wisconsin. A 1980 Chartbook. A Demographic Profile of the Black and Total Population |
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The information on this bio page is taken from the CHE Annual Report. |
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