Image of Norma Ware

Norma Ware, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine, Part-time, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Associate Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, part-time, Harvard Medical School

Norma C. Ware is a medical anthropologist and associate professor in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ware conducts research on social and behavioral dimensions of HIV treatment and prevention in sub-Saharan Africa. She is particularly interested in the use of qualitative research on user experiences to explain the dynamics of interventions to improve delivery of health care. Current research topics include: (1) a mobile outreach approach to delivering health services to Lake Victoria fishing communities in western Kenya; (2) evaluation of community-based HIV testing and ART delivery in South Africa and Uganda; (3) use of HIV self-testing and PrEP to facilitate linkage to HIV treatment and prevention services for male partners of HIV-infected pregnant women in Uganda; (4) qualitative evaluation of integrated delivery of PrEP and ART to HIV serodiscordant couples in Ugandan public health clinics; and (5) influences on uptake and adherence to periconception PrEP to reduce HIV risk in S. African women. In carrying out her research, Dr. Ware partners with the Center for Global Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; the International Clinical Research Center at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA; the Infectious Diseases Institute of Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda; Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya; and the Lake Victoria Consortium for Health Research, Entebbe, Uganda. Dr. Ware teaches at Harvard Medical School and collaborates widely with colleagues interested in the application of qualitative methods to research on health. She also mentors junior investigators.

Affiliations:
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Assistant:
Emily Pisarski

Dr. Ware conducts research on the delivery of HIV prevention and treatment services in sub-Saharan Africa. This research evaluates interventions aimed at improving service delivery, by examining intervention implementation processes. Current and recent projects focus on: (1) understanding implementation of real-time, point-of-care viral load testing by Ugandan public health care providers as an antiretroviral medication adherence intervention for pregnant women living with HIV; (2) explaining how Ugandan pregnant women living with HIV deliver and use HIV self-testing kits intended to promote testing among their male partners of unknown HIV status; (3) examining how Ugandan HIV care providers adapted a novel program of integrated HIV prevention and treatment services to promote feasibility and acceptability; and (4) investigating the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on continuing access to HIV care in Uganda.

An ethnographic study of the meaning of continuity of care in mental health services.
Authors: Authors: Ware NC, Tugenberg T, Dickey B, McHorney CA.
Psychiatr Serv
View full abstract on Pubmed
Sociosomatics and illness in chronic fatigue syndrome.
Authors: Authors: Ware NC.
Psychosom Med
View full abstract on Pubmed
Health status in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and in general population and disease comparison groups.
Authors: Authors: Komaroff AL, Fagioli LR, Doolittle TH, Gandek B, Gleit MA, Guerriero RT, Kornish RJ, Ware NC, Ware JE, Bates DW.
Am J Med
View full abstract on Pubmed
Prevalence of fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome in a primary care practice.
Authors: Authors: Bates DW, Schmitt W, Buchwald D, Ware NC, Lee J, Thoyer E, Kornish RJ, Komaroff AL.
Arch Intern Med
View full abstract on Pubmed
Society, mind and body in chronic fatigue syndrome: an anthropological view.
Authors: Authors: Ware NC.
Ciba Found Symp
View full abstract on Pubmed
Culture and somatic experience: the social course of illness in neurasthenia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Authors: Authors: Ware NC, Kleinman A.
Psychosom Med
View full abstract on Pubmed
The prevalence of bulimia among college students.
Authors: Authors: Zuckerman DM, Colby A, Ware NC, Lazerson JS.
Am J Public Health
View full abstract on Pubmed
Authors: Authors: Robins C, Ware NC, dos Reis S, Willging C, Chung J, Lewis-Fernandez R
Dialogues on mixed-methods mental health services research: anticipating challenges, building solutions
Authors: Authors: Robins C, Ware NC, dos Reis S, Willging C, Chung J, Lewis-Fernandez R
Dialogues on Mixed-Methods Mental Health Services Research: Anticipating Challenges, Building Solutions
Authors: Authors: Fedoravicius N, McMillen JC, Rowe J, Kagotho N, Ware NC
Funneling Child Welfare Consumers into and through the Mental Health System: Assessment, Referral, and Quality Issues