Prince Michael Amegbor

Assistant Professor of Global and Environmental Health

Professional overview

As a health geographer using big data and a multi-methods approach in his research on the environmental and social determinants of health, Dr. Prince Michael Amegbor is an assistant professor in the Department of Global and Environmental Health. He specializes in visualizing the geospatial distribution of risks and burdens on health that are associated with environmental exposures. He works to unravel how factors such as climate change, air pollution and other environmental exposures contribute to health inequalities, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and other geographic contexts (e.g., Denmark).

Prior to his appointment at GPH, Dr. Amegbor was a postdoctoral research fellow with the Big Data Centre for Environment and Health (BERTHA) and the Department of Environmental Science at Aarhus University (Denmark). He is also a guest researcher at Statistics Denmark and has worked as a co-task leader of two European Union Horizon 2020 Projects: REGREEN and ICARUS (Integrated Climate forcing and Air pollution Reduction in Urban Systems).

Dr. Amegbor has published dozens of articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals including Scientific Report, Health & Place and Applied Geography. He earned his PhD in human geography from Queen’s University in Ontario, and holds an MPhil in development geography from the University of Oslo. He obtained his undergraduate degree in geography and resource development from the University of Ghana, Legon.

 

 

Below are links to the results from ICARUS – Favorite Location Study published in the Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science journal:

• Results of Baseline Models for Copenhagen
• Results of Main Models for Copenhagen
• Results of Baseline Models for Roskilde
• Results of Main Models for Roskilde

Education

PhD, Department of Geography & Planning, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario

MPhil Developmental Geography, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

BA Geography & Resource Development, University of Ghana, Accra

Honors and awards

Principal's International Doctoral Award, Queen’s University (201520162017)

Quota Scheme Scholarship, Department of Sociology & Human Geography, University of Oslo (201220132014)

Areas of research and study

Aging and the Life Course

Alternative Medicine

Child Health

Complementary Medicine

Environmental Public Health Services

Immigrant Health

Public Health Policy

Social Determinants of Health

Socio-cultural Identities and Health Seeking Behaviors

Traditional Medicine

Urban Geography

Violence and Victimisation

Women's Health

Publications

Publications

An Assessment of Care-Seeking Behavior in Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District : A Triple Pluralistic Health Sector Approach

Amegbor, P. M., & Amegbor, P. M. (n.d.).

Publication year

2017

Journal title

SAGE Open

Volume

7

Issue

2

10.1177/2158244017710688

Abstract

Abstract

Discussions and studies on Ghana’s pluralistic health care system usually ignore or downplay self-care as a crucial sector in this system of care. In view of this, this study uses a triple sector approach of the pluralistic health care system as advocated by Kleinman to assess care-seeking behaviors of residents in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District (Ghana). The results of cross-tabulation analysis demonstrate that respondents’ general care–seeking behavior is different from the type of care sought for last illness before the study. Data for the study were obtained from 227 urban and rural respondents in the study district in 2013. The findings indicate that factors such as geographic location, health insurance, and perception of the cost of professional care had a bearing on residents’ general care–seeking behavior. However, age, sex, relationship status, economic status, and proximity to nearest biomedical care service influenced the type of treatment sought for last illness. The approach use of the study demonstrates that self-care remains a general avenue of care for residents, whereas in times of severe illness, respondents often rely on professional biomedical care. The use of professional indigenous care services is generally low due to the financial burden associated with its use.

Understanding usage and preference for health care therapies in a Ghanaian context : A pluralistic perspective

Amegbor, P. M. (n.d.).

Publication year

2017

Journal title

Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift

Volume

71

Issue

5

Page(s)

288-300

10.1080/00291951.2017.1340908

Abstract

Abstract

Studies of health care and health-care seeking behaviour in Ghana have mainly shown that many patients tend to use indigenous medicine to address their health care needs. These studies have cited affordability, acceptability, availability, and accessibility as major factors behind the predominant use of indigenous medicine. Nevertheless, in these studies, researchers often ignore the third health care option–self-care, usually subjugated under the indigenous medical system. Since the mid-1980s, both biomedical and indigenous health care systems have witnessed transformations that have shaped and changed their modes of operation, as well as the cost of treatment. In light of this, the author seeks to understand the motivations behind the preference for and use of self-care, professional biomedical care, and indigenous forms of care in the context of Ghana’s health care system. A qualitative, in-depth interview technique was used for data gathering. Findings from the study revealed that time and cost of treatment were major factors accounting for the predominant use of self-care. The author concludes that the findings challenge the long-held belief that biomedicine is not widely accepted by people in Ghana compared with indigenous medicine.

The COVID-19 pandemic and self-reported food insecurity among women in Burkina Faso: evidence from the performance monitoring for action (PMA) COVID-19 survey data

Amegbor, P. M., Yankey, O., Essah, M., & Amegbor, P. M. (n.d.).

Journal title

BMC WOMENS HEALTH

Abstract

Abstract

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