Jennifer Malat
Associate Professor
1009 Crosley Tower
513-556-4709
jennifer.malat@uc.edu
Professional Summary
Jennifer Malat received her BS in sociology from the University of Minnesota and her PhD from the University of Michigan. She has been at the University of Cincinnati since 2000. In addition her position in the Sociology Department, Malat is a Scholar at the University of Cincinnati's Institute for the Study of Health.
Education
PhD, University of Michigan, 2000.
Research Interests
Jennifer Malat is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Cincinnati. Malat’s research focuses mainly on how race affects health care experiences. Past research examined racial differences in patient ratings of doctors. This work examined theoretical issues associated with measurement of racial differences in patient ratings as well as empirical assessment of factors that mediate the racial difference in ratings. Current projects include: assessment of the relationship between perceptions of health care discrimination and African American preference for black doctors, examination of whites' and African Americans' attitudes toward working with different race doctors, evaluation of doctors’ and nurses’ perceptions of how race affects patient care, and assessment of patients' perceptions of physician cultural competence. Malat has received funding for past and present projects from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality as well as intramural sources. Malat's research has appeared in Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Science & Medicine, Ethnicity & Disease, as well as other journals.
Research Support
Faculty Release Fellowship for additional quarter of release during academic leave, Spring 2008, University of Cincinnati, Taft Research Center. Funded 2008
Summer Research Support, Taft Memorial Fund, University of Cincinnati. Funded 2005
Cost Sharing Grant for teaching release time to write grant proposal in the Fall of 2005, University of Cincinnati. , Taft Memorial Fund. Funded 2005
(Co-PI) with E. Donovan and M. Eckman, Perceptions of cultural competence—children, parents, and adults, Dean’s Discovery Funds, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. $35,000. Funded 11-2003 to 10-2004.
(PI) Patients’ racial attitudes and perceptions of clinicians, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. $99,987. Funded 09-2003 to 06-2005.
(PI) with Hyun Joo Oh, The effects of family and neighborhood poverty on child health, National Poverty Center, Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan. $19,222. Funded 07-2003 to 07-2004.
(Co-PI) with Diana Burgess and Michelle van Ryn, Providers’ perceptions of healthcare disparities, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. $29,000. Funded 07-2003 to 07-2004.
Cost Sharing Grant, Taft Memorial Fund, University of Cincinnati. $9844. Funded 2003
Support to attend 2003 ISR summer workshop in Ann Arbor, MI, Faculty Development Council, University of Cincinnati. Funded 2003
Summer Research Support, Taft Memorial Fund, University of Cincinnati. Funded 2002
Cost Sharing Grant for participation in grant writing workshop, Taft Memorial Fund, University of Cincinnati. Funded 2001
Rackham One-Term Dissertation Fellowship, Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan. Funded 2000
(PI) African American-white differences in medical care satisfaction, Student Award Program, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. $3000. Funded 09-1998 to 08-2000.
(PI) Racial differences in medical care satisfaction, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. $29,482. Funded 08-1998 to 04-2000.
Pre-dissertation Award for Research in Guatemala. Mellon Grant, Population Studies Center, University of Michigan. Funded 1996
Summer Research Grant, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center, University of Michigan. Funded 1996
Presidential Scholarship, University of Minnesota. Funded 1989 to 1991.
Peer Reviewed Publications
(2006). Expanding Research on the Racial Disparity in Medical Treatment with Ideas from Sociology. Health, 10 (3), 259-282.
Malat, Jennifer, and Mary Ann Hamilton (2006). Preference for Same Race Providers and Perceptions of Interpersonal Discrimination in Health Care. Journal of Health and Social Behavior (47), 173-187.
Malat, Jennifer, Michelle van Ryn, and David Purcell (2006). Race, Socioeconomic Status, and the Perceived Importance of Positive Self-Presentation in Health Care. Social Science & Medicine, 62 (10), 2479-2488.
van Ryn, Michelle, Diana Burgess, Jennifer Malat, and Joan Griffin (2006). Why Are Physicians Less Likely to Recommend CABG for Black Men? Examining the Role of Physicians’ Perceptions of Patients’ Social and Behavioral Characteristics. American Journal of Public Health, 96 (2), 351-357.
Burgess, Diana, Michelle van Ryn, Megan Matoka, and Jennifer Malat (2006). Understanding the Provider Contribution to Race/Ethnicity Disparities in Pain Treatment: A Social-Cognitive Framework. Pain Medicine , 7 (2), 119-134.
Malat, Jennifer and Michelle van Ryn (2005). African American Preference for Same-Race Doctors: The Role of Discrimination. Ethnicity & Disease, 15 (4), 739-747.
Malat, Jennifer, Hyun Joo Oh, and Mary Ann Hamilton (2005). Poverty Experience, Race, and Child Health. Public Health Reports, 120 (4), 442-447.
Moore, Philip J., Amy E. Sickel, Jennifer Malat, David R. Williams, James S. Jackson, and Nancy E. Adler (2004). Psychosocial Factors in Medical and Psychological Treatment Avoidance: The Role of the Doctor–Patient Relationship. Journal of Health Psychology, 9 (3), 421-433.
(2001). Social Distance and Patients’ Rating of Healthcare Providers. Journal of Health and Social Behavior (42), 360-372.
(2000). Racial Differences in Norplant Use in the United States. Social Science & Medicine, 50 (9), 1297-1308.
Book Chapters
(2002). Research in the Sociology of Health Care, vol. 20, Social Inequalities, Health and Health Care Delivery. J. Kronenfeld (Eds.), Race and Satisfaction with Health Care: Theoretical and Methodological Issues. (pp. 183-199). New York: JAI Press.
Invited Presentations
Malat, Jennifer, Rose Clark-Hitt, Diana Burgess, Michelle van Ryn, and Greta Friedemann-Sanchez (08/10/2007). Whites Naming Whiteness: White Doctors and Nurses on Racial Inequality. Annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, New York, NY.
(05/17/2007). White Doctors and Nurses on Racial Inequality in Health Care. Health Disparities working group, Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University.
Malat, Jennifer, Rose Clark-Hitt, Diana Burgess, Michelle van Ryn, and Greta Friedemann-Sanchez (04/04/2007). White Health Care Professionals’ Explanation of Racial Inequality in Health Care. Annual meetings of the North Central Sociological Association, Chicago, IL.
Malat, Jennifer, Diana Burgess, Michelle van Ryn, Greta Friedemann-Sanchez, and Rose Clark-Hitt (11/06/2006). Whites’ Demands for Care as an Explanation for Racial Inequality in Treatment. Annual meetings of the American Public Health Association, Washington, DC.
Malat, Jennifer, and Michelle van Ryn (08/13/2005). Social Location and Self-Presentation at Doctor Visits. Annual meetings of the American Sociological Association,, Philadelphia, PA.
Malat, Jennifer, David Purcell, and Michelle van Ryn (08/13/2005). General Racial Attitudes and Attitudes toward Doctor Race. Annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, PA.
Malat, Jennifer, Michelle van Ryn, and David Purcell (03/31/2005). Race, Socioeconomic Status, and the Perceived Importance of Positive Self-Presentation in Health Care. Annual meetings of the Population Association of America, Philadelphia, PA.
(11/06/2004). African American Preference for Same Race Health Care Providers: The Role of Perceived Health Care Discrimination. Annual meetings of the American Public Health Association, Washington, DC.
(08/14/2004). The Racial Disparity in Medical Treatment: A Case for Bridging the Gap between Sociology and Healthcare Problems. Annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, CA.
Malat, Jennifer, Hyun Joo Oh, and Mary Ann Hamilton (07/20/2004). Family Poverty and Child Health. National Poverty Center’s Conference on Poverty & Health, Ann Arbor, MI.
(08/16/2003). African American Preference for Same-Race Healthcare Providers: The Role of Perceived Healthcare Discrimination. Annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Atlanta, GA.
Lectures
(05/11/2007). Doctors’ Explanations for Racial Inequality in Health Care: Theory and Methods. University of Cincinnati Medical School.
Events Organized
Invited session on race and health at the annual meetings of the Southern Sociological Society (2005), .
Medical sociology session for the annual meetings of the North Central Sociological Association (2003), .
