Joyce Avotri-Wuaku

Dr. Joyce Avotri Wuaku is an Associate Professor who teaches sociology classes in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies. Dr. Avotri Wuaku has a multidisciplinary and global academic training. Her teaching interests are in medical sociology, social problems, inequality, social movements, family and deviant behavior. Her research interests are generally in medical sociology, healthcare systems, international health and development, globalization, immigration and health, alternative healing practices in the United States, HIV/AIDS in Africa, and medication use among women in Ghana. She has always been interested in the social construction and social production of health and illness among women in Ghana and this led her to investigate women’s own views on the connection between their daily life experiences and their health in southern Ghana.

Her peer-reviewed articles based on findings from her research work have appeared in a number of reputable journals such as Social Science and Medicine, Canadian Psychology, and the Journal of Gender Studies. She has also collaborated in a research project with Dr. Eileen Smith-Cavros and Dr. Albert Wuaku in Ghana studying spirituality, health needs and healthcare access among the elderly in a small community in the Volta Region. They have published their research findings in Qualitative Research in Medicine and Health and the Journal of Religion & Health (JORH). She is currently writing a book that puts together findings from her research on Ghanaian women’s own understandings of their health and illness. She also has an ongoing research project that involves investigating the experiences of African immigrant families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder here in the United States.