Health Systems Decentralization in Rural Honduras: Little Evidence for Improvements in Maternal and Child Health

Dr. Elisabeth Root
Associate Professor of Geography; Associate Professor of Epidemiology; The Ohio State University
CPC Training Program Predoctoral Alumna

Professor Root’s research is situated at the intersection of geography and public health. Using spatial statistical methods and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), she integrates socioeconomic and environmental context into studies of disease processes and health behaviors to better understand geographical patterns of human health across diverse settings, examine how local and regional context drives these patterns of disease, and model the effect of major health and development interventions across these diverse settings. Dr. Root’s main approach involves collecting extensive survey and health data and combining these data with areal demographic/economic indicators and environmental data. She then use spatial statistical methods and GIS to quantify and assess the spatial/contextual factors which alter disease processes and programmatic effects. Her active research projects are located in Honduras, Bangladesh, and the Philippines as well as the U.S.