Keisha Jefferies

Keisha Jefferies

Killam Predoctoral Scholarship Recipient

Dalhousie University

In her interaction with doctors and nurses who looked like her – visibly Black, while conducting a health policy analysis on breastfeeding practices as well as participating in maternal and newborn health research in Tanzania, Keisha began thinking about the underrepresentation of African Nova Scotian healthcare providers and how that relates to health disparities within African Nova Scotian communities.

Keisha is also looking at other critical factors through her research, such as community mistrust, mental health, and how nursing education plays a pivotal role in perpetuating the underrepresentation of African Nova Scotians in nursing. 

I began thinking about the underrepresentation of African Nova Scotian healthcare providers and how that relates to health disparities within African Nova Scotian communities. I became interested in exploring ways to address those disparities and decided it should be through nursing.

Photo credit: Dalhousie University

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