Community-based healthcare equity has been the hallmark of Esther Boama-Nyarko’s career.
Currently a PhD student at UMass Medical School, she was the clinical research coordinator in the Department of Emergency Medicine, where she focused on suicide prevention within healthcare settings, including training, clinician engagement, and quality involvement. In the future, she hopes to investigate differential participation in perinatal mental health services for women of color. Before pursuing her doctorate, she worked at the Worcester Family Resource Center, where she engaged with leaders from refugee and immigrant African communities to expand the network of resources to food access, housing assistance, childcare, and mental health care. She co-founded the African Ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Worcester, where she now volunteers as the administrative secretary. As a representative of the African Ministry, she sits on the board of St. Anne’s Free Medical Program, which seeks to provide high quality healthcare services to the uninsured and underinsured members of the Greater Worcester community.Â
What TV character would you like to be? Aunt Viv from Fresh Prince of Bel Air, originally played by Janet Hubert. The original Aunt Viv was sassy, multi-talented, and a great example of a strong black professional woman.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has done for you? Check in on me to see if I am okay. It’s simple, but it shows a lot of care.
What life goal will you accomplish in the next 10 years? Finish my PhD and begin to impact change in the health system through community-engaged research on the mental health and wellbeing of communities of color.
