UM Directory

Kimber Haddix McKay is an applied medical anthropologist with expertise in global health, research design, monitoring and evaluation, and demography. Her research focuses on the interplay between marriage systems and fertility, and on demographic and health trends in African and South Asian societies. She is interested in the ways in which medical anthropology can be useful in fields outside of academia, and has worked extensivley with the non-profit sector designing and conducting studies of health and health seeking behavior in urban and rural areas of Nepal and Uganda. She has assisted in the design of locally appropriate development schemes aimed at improving health conditions in villages and homes, particularly in the use of sustainable energy technologies (solar photovoltaic, pico- and micro-hydroelectric systems) latrines, improved/smokeless cookstoves, lighting schemes, anthropometry and nutrition supplementation, community-based health training, and health-related drama and radio programming.

Courses Taught

• PUBH 580 Rural Health Issues in a Global Context (G - Public Health)
• PUBH 540 Social and Behavioral Science in Public Health (G - Public Health)

Field of Study

Global health, program planning and evaluation, social and behavioral sciences in public health practice.

Publications

N.D. McKay, K., Acholla, D., Namutebi, P., Sanders, C., Ssekidde, M., Lessons learned from a menstrual hygiene management program in Central Uganda, East African Journal of Public Health, under review.

2021. Daniel Kabugo, Heidi Nakamura, Brooke Magnusson, Madeline Vaughan, Beatrice Niyonshaba, Cornety Nakiganda, Christine Otai, Kimber Haddix-McKay, Margaret Seela, Joyce Nankabala, Josephine Nakakande, Moses Ssekidde, Cally Tann, Benjamin J.S. al-Haddad, James Nyonyintono, Paul Mubiri, Peter Waiswa, Mohan Paudel, A quasi-experimental study to assess the feasibility, acceptability and early effectiveness of the Hospital to Home Programme for follow-up of high-risk newborns in a rural district of central Uganda, BMJ Open, 11:e043773. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043773.

2021 Glover A., Holman C., Katalenich B., McKay K., Smith N.K., and Woo M.. Maternal Health in Montana. Montana: Department of Public Health and Human Services; 2021. 34 p. Report No.: 1.

2019 Grocke, M.; McKay, K., and Foor, T., ‘Subjective well-being in two Himalayan communities, post road development’, HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies: Vol. 39(1): 26-31.

2018 Grocke, M. and McKay, K.H., Food security, nutritional outcomes, and a road. Mountain Research and Development, 38(4): 288-298.

2016 Grocke, M. and McKay, K.H., 'Like mother, like child? Understanding transitions in diet, health, and nutrition in Humla, Nepal'. Studies in Nepali History and Society. 21(2):13-22.

2016 Grocke, M. and McKay, KH., The impact of the first road in Humla District, Nepal on children’s dietary patterns and nutritional status with recommendations for increased protein intake. Studies in Nepali History and Society, 21(2): 305-331.

2016 McKay K., Polyandry. In: T.K. Shackelford, V.A. Weekes-Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_119-1

2016 McKay, K., Planning Families in Nepal. Jan Brunson, New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers University Press, 2016, 150 pp. Medical Anthropology Quarterly. doi:10.1111/maq.12344

2015 Sanders, C., McKay, K. Lama, A., and Dhakal, P., “’Pro-government’ is not ‘Pro-corruption’ in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquakes”. in Anthropology News’ online magazine, In Focus, June 10^th, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2015 from http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2015/06/10/pro-government-is-not-pro-corruption-in-the-aftermath-of-the- nepal-earthquakes/.

2015 Khumalo, K., McKay, K., Freimund, W., Who is a “real woman”? Empowerment and the discourse of respectability in Namibia’s Zambezi region, Women’s Studies International Forum, 48: 47-56.

2014 Sanders, C. and McKay, K., Where have all the young men gone? Social fragmentation during rapid neoliberal development in Nepal’s Himalayas. Human Organization 73(1): 25-37.

2013 McKay, K., Sanders, C., The dual collective action problem facing a latrine program in Nepal, Proceedings of the 3^rd World Sustainability Forum, http://www.sciforum.net/conference/wsf3.

2013 Sanders, C. and McKay, K., "I don't know where my sons are": Social trade-offs during rapid development in Nepal. In Proceedings of the 3rd World Sustainability Forum, http://www.sciforum.net/conference/wsf3.

2013 Sanders, C. and McKay, K., The Search for “Strong Medicine”: Pathways to healthcare development in remote Nepal using GIS. Technology & Innovation 15: 109-124.

2012 Sanders, C. and McKay K.H., Love is cheap: Democratic rise of love marriage among Hindu Maoists in Nepal. Anthropology News, http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2012/04/02/love-is-cheap/.

2010 McKay, K.H., Socio-cultural dimensions of cluster vs. single home photovoltaic solar energy systems in rural Nepal, Sustainability, 2010(2): 494-504.

2009 Zahnd, A. and McKay, K.H., Benefits from a renewable energy village electrification system, Renewable Energy, 34:362-368.

2008 Zahnd, A. and McKay, K.H., A mountain to climb? How pico-hydro helps rural development in the Himalayas, Renewable Energy World, 11(2): 118-123.

2007 McKay, K., Zahnd, A., Sanders, C. and Nepali, G., Responses to innovation in an insecure environment in rural Nepal, Mountain Research and Development, 27(4): 302–307.

2007 Zahnd, A. and McKay, K.H., Eclairage sur mesure au Népal, Traces 24(12): 11-13.

2007 Pickering A. and Haddix McKay, K., Old and new barriers to family planning in Humla, Nepal: How the urban/rural divide has widened, Contributions to Nepalese Studies, 34(1): 229-245.

2007 Zahnd, A. and McKay, K.H., Quatre piliers pour un développement holistique, Traces 24(12): 7-9.

2006 Fissel, A. and Haddix McKay, K., Action!  Why people engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS should take note of traditional healer organizations in Uganda, Practicing Anthropology, 28(4): 22-25.

2004 Tanner, R., Brown, P., Freimund, W. and Haddix McKay, K., Transfrontier conservation areas of Southern Africa and international law in the context of community involvement.  Journal of South African Environmental Law and Policy, 11: 167-182.

2003 Haddix McKay, K., Challenges to health care access in Maoist Nepal, Himalaya, XXII(2): 43-46.

2002 Haddix McKay, K., Health needs in two ethnic communities of Northwestern Nepal, Contributions to Nepalese Studies, 29(2): 241-273.

2001 Haddix, K., Leaving your wife and your brothers: When polyandrous marriages fall apart, Evolution and Human Behavior, 22(1):47-61.

1999 Haddix, K.A., "Excess Women": Non-marriage and reproduction in two ethnic Tibetan communities of Humla, Nepal," HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 19(1): Article 9.

Affiliations

School of Public and Community Health Sciences

Specialized Skills

Evaluation, program planning, demography, demographic anthropology, monitoring and evaluation, applied medical anthropology, international development, global public health, maternal, newborn, child health.

Professional Experience

2022 - Present: Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

2020 - Present: Professor, School of Public and Community Health Sciences, University of Montana

2000 - 2020: Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Montana

1998 - Present: Consultant to Adara Development. Conducting baseline and longitudinal studies of rural health care conditions in Humla District, Nepal and Nakaseke District, Uganda; currently Senior Advisor, Innovation and Best Practice for Adara Development

2001-2002 Country Manager, Nepal—The ISIS Foundation. Project director and manager and lead researcher on various health-related development projects in both Nepal and Uganda (on leave from University of Montana)

1998-2000 Andrew Mellon post-doctoral fellow in demographic anthropology, University of California at Berkeley, Program in Population Research, under the supervision of Gene Hammel

International Experience

Current Research Sites:

• Nepal
• Uganda

Other Research Sites:

• Kenya
• Honduras

Languages:

• Spanish
• Nepali