Melissa Ceuterick

Melissa Ceuterick
Ghent University | UGhent · Department of Sociology

PhD.

About

41
Publications
13,347
Reads
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638
Citations
Introduction
I am a senior postdoctoral researcher at Hedera (Health and Demographic research), Department of Sociology, Ghent University. As a trained anthropologist I mainly specialised in qualitative methods. My current research focuses on medication use, (mental) health and migration.
Additional affiliations
March 2017 - present
Ghent University
Position
  • PostDoc Position
October 2015 - February 2017
Agentschap Integratie en Inburgering
Position
  • Project Manager
January 2012 - December 2012
Duke University - OT S
Position
  • Professor

Publications

Publications (41)
Article
Full-text available
This study aims to examine (a) whether there are differences in general practitioners’ (GPs) attitudes towards native Belgian patients, patients of foreign descent and asylum seeking patients who all express symptoms of major depression, and (b) whether these differences depend on GPs’ experience with cultural competency training and interethnic co...
Article
Full-text available
Although the prevalence of common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, is higher among people with a migration background, these groups are generally underrepresented in all forms of institutionalized mental health care. At the root of this striking discrepancy might be unequal referral by health care practitioners. In this arti...
Article
Full-text available
Abortion is taboo in Pakistani society, and it is stigmatised throughout the country, regardless of legal permission. Despite the burdens imposed by social norms of pronatalism and motherhood, women do exercise agency to have abortions. This study explores the experiences of women who have had induced abortions and maintained their social status wi...
Article
Full-text available
Medicinal plants are being used by communities worldwide to treat various conditions, diseases, and illnesses. Nevertheless, knowledge of their use is rapidly declining due to factors like accelerated urbanization, globalization, and biodiversity loss. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, deforestation, and urbanization are the main drivers of biod...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Treatment for substance use disorder (SUD) to benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BZRA) can be challenging and lengthy. BZRA are prescribed for anxiety and insomnia, and though guidelines recommend an initial prescription duration of one to four weeks, this is frequently longer. Understanding the multiple challenges associated with withd...
Article
Aims The Red Noses Culturally-Sensitive Stigma Survey (RN-CSS) contributes to the underexplored research domain of adolescents’ stigmatising attitudes and behaviours towards peers with mental health difficulties and mental healthcare services. It also addresses the need for comprehensive and culturally-sensitive tools to assess stigma in this conte...
Article
Full-text available
Healthcare professionals play a crucial role in addressing the concerns of vaccine-hesitant parents since they form a trusted source for vaccine-related information. An increasing body of evidence suggests that healthcare professionals are faced with complexities when navigating the sensitive topic of parental vaccine hesitancy, as they balance the...
Article
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When the biocultural landscape differs from the country of origin, migrants develop strategies to maintain ethnobotanical habits and/or adapt them to the new environment. We conducted 30 semistructured interviews with people of Congolese descent to investigate medicinal plant use among the Congolese community (Democratic Republic of Congo) in Belgi...
Article
This article presents the design of a seven-country study focusing on childhood vaccines, Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy in Europe (VAX-TRUST), developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study consists of (a) situation analysis of vaccine hesitancy (examination of individual, socio-demographic and macro-level factors of vaccine hesitancy and analysi...
Article
Full-text available
Background The use of medicinal plants is integral to global healthcare systems, with Sub-Saharan Africa maintaining a robust tradition of herbal medicine alongside Western-oriented healthcare. As migrant communities tend to continue traditional herbal practices after migration, documenting this use is vital to develop culturally sensitive healthca...
Article
A higher prevalence of depression is found among patients with a migration background within the Belgian population. Nevertheless, this group is underrepresented in ambulant and residential mental health care services. Since general practitioners (GPs) have a crucial gatekeeping role, this led some researchers to investigate the possibility of a pr...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives: Although people with a migration background (MB) have more unmet mental health needs than the general population, patients with a MB are still underrepresented in mental health care services. Provider bias towards these patients has been evidenced repeatedly but its driving factors remain elusive. We assessed the moderating effect of t...
Article
Full-text available
Background Although people with a migration background (MB) have more unmet mental health needs than the general population, patients with a MB are still underrepresented in mental health care services. Provider bias towards these patients has been evidenced repeatedly but its driving factors remain elusive. We assessed the moderating effect of ind...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction The use of psychotropics, such as benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BzRAs), among working-age adults in Belgium has shown educational differences. However, it is unclear how work status plays a role in this relationship. Therefore, this research aims to investigate whether work status explains observed educational differences in BzRA u...
Article
Full-text available
Being childless is an unbearable condition for women in the pronatalist Pakistani society and has a prominent place in community dialogues. Childless women bear the brunt of childlessness. These women face stigma expressed in community members’ talks. This study presents a discourse analysis of community members’ thoughts on childless women. Data w...
Article
Full-text available
Populations with a migration background have a higher prevalence of mental health problems than their native counterparts. They are also more likely to have unmet medical needs and are less frequently referred to mental health services. One potential explanation for this is that physicians, such as general practitioners (GPs), may unintentionally d...
Article
In many countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands, dependence on benzodiazepines (BZDs) is a medical and social issue, and, for long-term users who want to taper off, doing so remains a personal challenge. For these users, online contexts such as forums can be a place to discuss this experience and look for practical and moral support among...
Article
Full-text available
During the last decades, under influence of globalization, the scope of ethnobiological research has expanded. Rapidly developing technology, telecommunication, the internet, and social media promote the occurrence and maintenance of ties within and between communities through multifaceted ways of digital communication. This often gives rise to dig...
Article
Full-text available
Background Patients with a migration background (MB) have more mental health disorders than those without migration background. Yet, those patients are still underrepresented in mental healthcare services and have more unmet medical needs. Although providers’ bias has been well studied, up to date, little is still known about the factors explaining...
Conference Paper
Background Generally, there is a higher prevalence of mental health problems among people with a migration background, hereinafter “migrant patients”, than among their native counterparts. They are also more likely to have unmet medical needs and are less frequently referred to mental health services. One potential explanation is that general pract...
Article
Full-text available
Background As a hard-hit area during the COVID-19 pandemic, Belgium knew the highest mortality among people from sub-Saharan African descent, compared to any other group living in the country. After migration, people often maintain traditional perceptions and habits regarding health and healthcare, resulting in a high prevalence of traditional, com...
Article
Full-text available
Background Urban ethnobotanical research in Costa Rica is rather rare and home gardens are poorly studied so far. Investigating their biodiversity is crucial in gathering knowledge on the uses of this particular flora, especially related to the owners’ health. This study therefore explores the diversity and knowledge of medicinal plants of private...
Article
Drawing on a critical social-psychological framework for discourse analysis, data from a popular forum for people over 50 were analysed to study how the habitual use of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs (BZD/Z) is discursively negotiated by Flemish older adults. We present five different repertoires (risk and addiction; alternative pathways; suffering; r...
Presentation
Full-text available
Background In Europe, migrants have a higher prevalence of depression compared to the native population and, more often, they face unmet medical needs, including less frequent referral to mental health services. According to social psychology, general practitioners (GPs) may undertreat migrants due to unconscious stereotypical bias that could lead...
Article
Environmental concepts are performative in that they help create the environment they describe. This paper explores the performativity of the ecosystem services concept in the field of integrated water management in Flanders (northern Belgium). The data was collected from 23 in-depth interviews with professionals in the field, conducted in two roun...
Presentation
Full-text available
Article
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Contemporary ageing discourses and policies perceive being active as the key to a good later life and thereby focus on individual responsibility and self-care. Drawing on website articles and press releases of Belgian sickness fund agencies, this study analyses the ageing discourses and positioning of ageing persons of these organisations. A discou...
Article
Katherine Bischoping & Amber Gazso, Analyzing talk in the social sciences: Narrative, conversation & discourse strategies, Sage: London, 2016, 240 pp., ISBN 978-1-4462-7248-0, € 84,65.
Article
Full-text available
There are many ethnobotanical studies on the use of wild plants and mushrooms for food and medicinal treatment in Europe. However, there is a lack of comparative ethnobotanical research on the role of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) as wild food and medicine in local livelihoods in countries with different socio-economic conditions. The aim of thi...
Article
Book review Book review In this contribution the author reviews Interpreting qualitative data: a guide to the principles of qualitative research by D. Silverman.
Article
To investigate traditional health care practices and changes in medicinal plant use among the growing Colombian community in London. Ethnobotanical fieldwork consisted of qualitative, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 23 Colombians living in London and botanical identification of 46 plant species actively used as herbal remedies. Subsequent...

Questions

Questions (4)
Question
I have been supervising a research project where several cultural brokers/intermediaries (with a personal background in migration) were hired as interviewers for a study on needs among recently arrived migrants. They were mainly hired because of their language skills and own experience. This brings up very specific ethical and methodological issues. So I was wondering if anyone has worked on a similar project or can suggest further readings on this topic. Thanks in advance!
Question
For an article on the concept of ecosystem services (and the multiple diverging interpretations of its meaning) I am looking for studies that have investigated the fluidity of concepts, and (ideally) the discursive effects thereof.
Question
I am looking for studies that take on a discourse analysis approach that focus on the use of traditional medicine. Suggestions for studies that conducted discourse analysis on medicine using tout court are also welcomed.
Question
I am looking for both methods and theories to conduct research on local policy making processes, preferably related to (immigrant) integration policies. I'd also like to know examples of research in this field.

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