Faculty and Staff

Jennifer Hunter, RN, PhD - Associate Professor

Jennifer Hunter

Phone: 816.235.6279

Email: hunterj@umkc.edu

CV: HunterJ.pdf

Biography: Jennifer Hunter, PhD, RN, is an Associate Professor. Her doctoral degree is in cultural anthropology. Her research interests involve culture, cancer, end-of-life issues, and health literacy and she is currently focused on cervical cancer in vulnerable populations. In 2003 – 2004 she was selected as a Fellow of the Cancer, Culture and Literacy Institute, Moffitt Cancer Center, University of South Florida. She teaches in the BSN, graduate and doctoral programs.

"I was drawn to research by an interest in complementary or alternative healing modalities and their roots in others cultures. This interest led me to obtain my doctorate in cultural/medical anthropology, as a complement to my nursing background. My clinical experience in hospice and palliative care led me to look at cancer experiences in the Peruvian Amazon. Although cervical cancer in vulnerable populations has been the main thread of my research, I have a bigger umbrella of interest covering end of life issues, palliation of symptoms in all phases of illness, cultural impact on illness and healing, and health literacy and cross-cultural communication. I’m drawn to qualitative methods that put me in touch with real people and the accounts of their experiences."

Recent Publications:

  • Hunter, J. (in press). Applying constructivism to nursing education toward cultural competence: A course that bears repeating. Journal of Transcultural Nursing.
  • Hunter, J. (2007). Bereavement: An incomplete rite of passage. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 56(2), 153-173.
  • Hunter, J. (2006). Better late than never: Reflections on the delayed prioritization of cervical cancer in international health. Health Care for Women International 27(1), 2-17.
  • Hunter, J. (2005). Cervical cancer educational pamphlets: Do they miss the mark for Mexican immigrant women's needs? Cancer Control: Cancer, Culture and Literacy Supplement 12(November suppl.), 42-50.
  • Hunter, J. (2005). Emelda's story: Applying ethnographic insights to cultural assessment and cervical cancer control. Journal of Transcultural Nursing 16(4): 322-330.


    • Grants:

  • National Institute of Health/ National Cancer Institute, Learner Verification of Cervical Cancer Education with Mexican Immigrant Women. Small Grant for Behavioral Research in Cancer Control, 2007-2009: The aim of this project is to identify more relevant options for presentation of cervical cancer education for these women, through learner verification interviews. Findings of a preliminary study showed that educational the content of cervical cancer education messages are not relevant to the needs of Mexican immigrant women, do not transcend language barriers, do not relate to the women’s existing knowledge and experience, and may elicit more fear than motivation.
  • UMKC’s Center for the City Community Research Grant, Cervical Cancer in Kansas City’s Mexican Immigrant Women: The Unanswered Questions, 2003-2004.