EY1920 Year Book

33 32 Chan Yat Chi About the degree: The degree gave me a more holistic understanding of healthcare and how it interacts with other disciplines such as politics and economics. I have gained a more in depth understanding of a range of topics ranging from global health governance, medical anthropology to health systems. Despite the initial challenge of understanding concepts different from what we would usually learn about in medicine, this degree challenged my views on healthcare and the world which was very rewarding and eye-opening. Dissertation – How does microfinancing impact women’s mental health? A critical review of global case studies. Background : Microfinance was developed in hopes of alleviating poverty effectively. It aims to supply small amounts of credit to the poor so that they can develop their own businesses. However in recent years, its effectiveness of tackling not only poverty, but HIV prevalence, intimate partner violence (IPV) and women’s empowerment is being questioned. Despite the broad research on these themes, the effect of microfinance on mental health of participants, especially women, have been neglected . The mental health effects of microfinance is especially important as women in poverty are more vulnerable to mental health problems. Method and findings: A critical review of the topic is done to understand the various socioeconomic factors and microfinance program characteristics resulting in positive and negative mental health outcomes. 11 themes were identified and were categorised into 5 levels (individual, household, microfinance program characteristic, community and country) according to the social determinants of health framework by the WHO and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. A conceptual framework (Figure 1) was then produced through the thematic analysis to illustrate the relationship between microfinancing and mental health of women. Intercalation: iBSc G lobal Public Health Discussion and conclusion: The critical review suggested that microfinance impacts women’s mental health in a multi-level and complex manner . There is no single factor, but a network of interconnected issues that may improve women’s mental health in one way and worsen it in another. Furthermore, gender inequality , especially in LMICs, plays a big role in causing negative mental health outcomes as many factors stem from this phenomenon. MFIs should therefore improve the quality of education programs , perform financial and psychological assessments and implement flexible loan payments and savings mechanisms to improve their clients’ mental health and benefit more participants in the future. Figure 1. MBBS Enrichment Year 2019/20 Chan Yee Sheung Sonia Full Year < IC - I nter c alate d d egree at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, U K > Chan Yee Sheung Sonia