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Appalachian Health explores major challenges and opportunities for promoting the health and well-being of the people of Appalachia, a historically underserved population. It considers health's intersection with social, political, and economic factors to shed light on the trends affecting mortality and morbidity among the region's residents.Editors F. Douglas Scutchfield and Randy Wykoff have assembled high-profile experts working in academia, public health, and government to offer perspectives on a wide range of topics including health behaviors, environmental justice, and pandemic preparedness. This volume also provides updated data on issues such as opioid abuse,'deaths of despair,'and the social determinants of health. Together, the contributors illuminate the complex health status of the region and offer evidence-based programs for addressing the health problems that have been identified.

Supporting Children and Their Families Facing Health Inequities in Canada fills an urgent national need to analyze disparities among vulnerable populations, where socio-economic and cultural factors compromise health and create barriers. Offering solutions and strategies to the prevalent health inequities faced by children, youth, and families in Canada, this book investigates timely issues of social, economic, and cultural significance. Chapters cover a diverse range of socio-economic and cultural factors that contribute to health inequality among the country's most vulnerable youth populations, including mental health challenges, low income, and refugee status. This book shares scientific evidence from thousands of interviews, questionnaires, surveys, and client consultations, while also providing professional insights that offer key information for at-risk families experiencing health inequities. Timely and transformative, this book will serve as an informed and compassionate guide to promote the health and resiliency of vulnerable children, youth, and families across Canada.

Disability is a universal aspect of the human experience. It will affect all of us, either directly or indirectly, at some point in our lives. Healthcare professionals frequently provide care for and communicate with people who have disability. Many care providers have acknowledged that additional education would help them deliver optimal evidence-based care. The educational gap has broad implications and repercussions for the care of this population.Delivering Quality Healthcare for People With Disability provides a road map for nurses, nursing students, and other healthcare professionals to deliver quality healthcare for individuals with dis-ability. From social determinants of health to disability models to an understanding of different types of disability, author Suzanne Smeltzer helps nurses take the lead in redefining education and addressing the needs of people with disability.

Millions of low-income African Americans in the United States lack access to health care. How do they treat their health care problems? In Health Care Off the Books, Danielle T. Raudenbush provides an answer that challenges public perceptions and prior scholarly work. Informed by three and a half years of fieldwork in a public housing development, Raudenbush shows how residents who face obstacles to health care gain access to pharmaceutical drugs, medical equipment, physician reference manuals, and insurance cards by mobilizing social networks that include not only their neighbors but also local physicians. However, membership in these social networks is not universal, and some residents are forced to turn to a robust street market to obtain medicine. For others, health problems simply go untreated. Raudenbush reconceptualizes U.S. health care as a formal-informal hybrid system and explains why many residents who do have access to health services also turn to informal strategies to treat their health problems. While the practices described in the book may at times be beneficial to people's health, they also have the potential to do serious harm. By understanding this hybrid system, we can evaluate its effects and gain new insight into the sources of social and racial disparities in health outcomes.

The contributors to this latest volume of Research in the Sociology of Health Care investigate macro-level system issues and micro-level issues involving the socially disadvantaged and underserved. Looking specifically at the factors impacting on health and health care differentials, this book is an examination of the health and health care issues of both patients and providers of care in the United States and around the globe. Chapters focus on linkages to policy, population concerns and patients and providers of care as ways to meet health care needs.

How does the need to obtain and deliver health services engender particular (im)mobility forms? And how is mobility experienced and imagined when it is required for healthcare access or delivery? Guided by these questions, Healthcare in Motion explores the dynamic interrelationship between mobility and healthcare, drawing on case studies from across the world and shedding light on the day-to-day practices of patients and professionals.

Explores the moral dilemmas posed by disparities in health across nations. Millions around the world die from preventable diseases. Millions more suffer from poor health as a result of extreme poverty. Who bears responsibility for heath inequalities? Who should take responsibility for ameliorating them?Contributors to this volume consider whether health inequalities are a result of global distributive inequalities and are therefore of concern to those promoting global redistributive justice.

The relation between socioeconomic status and population health is evident in epidemiological studies. Socioeconomic status is typically measured using income and financial resources, occupation type, and educational attainment. In this book, the authors present topical research in the study of socioeconomic status and its health implications. Topics discussed include diabetes, marginality, and gender identity; the socioeconomic aspects of health services in Israel; low socioeconomic status and child mental health disparities; adolescent health risk behavior from a migrant population in the United Arab Emirates; Japanese women's health related to job stress and the hidden costs incurred by families and friends of patients with low health literacy.

Appalachians have been characterized as a population with numerous disparities in health and limited access to medical services and infrastructures, leading to inaccurate generalizations that inhibit their healthcare progress. Appalachians face significant challenges in obtaining effective care, and the public lacks information about both their healthcare needs and about the resources communities have developed to meet those needs. In Appalachian Health and Well-Being, editors Robert L. Ludke and Phillip J. Obermiller bring together leading researchers and practitioners to provide a much-needed compilation of data- and research-driven perspectives, broadening our understanding of strategies to decrease the health inequalities affecting both rural and urban Appalachians. The contributors propose specific recommendations for necessary research, suggest practical solutions for health policy, and present best practices models for effective health intervention. This in-depth analysis offers new insights for students, health practitioners, and policy makers, promoting a greater understanding of the factors affecting Appalachian health and effective responses to those needs.

A multidisciplinary international team examines the safety, ethics, and health implications of the emerging global market for health care, and the issues that arise when patients cross borders for medical procedures they cannot afford or access at home, from liposuction to kidney transplants.Risks and Challenges in Medical Tourism: Understanding the Global Market for Health Services provides an in-depth, comprehensive assessment of the benefits and risks when health care becomes a global commodity. The collection includes contributions from leading scholars in law and public policy, medicine and public health, bioethics, anthropology, health geography, and economics.This timely and informative handbook looks at medical tourism from the perspective of some of the major regions that send and receive medical tourists, including the United States, the European Union, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Contributors examine how government agencies, medical tourism companies, international hospital chains, and other organizations promote medical tourism and the globalization of health care. The topics explored include the legal remedies available to medical tourists when procedures go awry; potential consequences when patients cross borders for medical procedures that are illegal in their home countries; the relationship of medical tourism to international spread of infectious disease; and the lack of adequate transnational policies and regulations governing the global market for health services.

This volume in the highly-regarded'Research in the Sociology of Health Care'series, deals with both macro-level system issues and micro-level issues involving access to care, factors that impact access, patients as partners in care and changing roles of health providers. It includes: an examination of factors that impact access to care such as racial/ethnic, social, demographic and structural sources, a discussion of changing patterns of care and changing patterns of interaction between patients and providers of care, and an investigation of changing roles of health care providers within the health care delivery system. Key contributions focus on linkages to policy, population concerns and patients and/or providers of care as ways to meet health care needs of people both in the US and in other countries. This volume relates to issues of consumers of health care services, providers of such services and policy perspectives. It also raises issues of the availability of services, access to those services, quality of services and the role of government in services provision.

Disability and Public Health opens up a new vista and territory by drawing down a new set of tools and strategies from the public health domain to examine the social determinants of health for people with disabilities and to develop systems of health education, health literacy and organization of services to improve their health and well-being. It examines the circumstances of disability from a personal, cultural, environmental, clinical, and policy perspective and ties it together in a public health paradigm.

Getting it Right for Children is the story of one pediatrician, determined to make a difference in the lives of children. Getting it Right for Children is the story of one pediatrician, determined to make a difference in the lives of children. The book follows the physician as he witness's inequities in the health care system, and involves the reader in his journey to enact legislation for better access to health care for children. Stephen Berman, MD, FAAP, is one pediatrician who made a difference and inspires others to do the same.

Social inequality is widely recognized as an important cause of conflict and the social determinants of health in conflict settings reflect and reinforce these inequalities. This publication explores the impact of conflict and occupation on the health of people in six countries of the region, identifying loss of human rights, breaches of medical neutrality and psychosocial distress as key determinants that affect people's health in crisis settings. The publication also identifies some examples of activities and interventions that may help to mitigate the impact of these conflicts on the health.

Described as a Renaissance man of the twenty-first century, Sir George Alleyne, Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and Director Emeritus of the Pan American Health Organization, is one of the Caribbean's finest scholars. As a physician, scientist and public health leader, Sir George has had a profound impact on the Caribbean and the Americas, and the wider world. In this collection of oratory spanning three decades, readers are treated to the scope and breadth of George Alleyne's intellect. Rigorous and meticulous as a researcher, the 28 speeches bear witness to his disciplined, yet elegant skill as a Specialist in several fields, and Generalist in one – as a public health leader. Covering a range of topics delivered to various audiences at varying venue, this book brings Sir George's message of the quest for better health, to a wider audience. From medical and health research, to globalization and national security, chronic disease research and the challenges of HIV and Aids to the Caribbean, the speeches are expressions of global themes. Health and Development in Our Time resonates with the considered reflection of a Caribbean leader in World Health and will enrich the lives of its readers. Caribbean and world citizens alike will benefit from the eloquent expositions delivered by Sir George Alleyne.

In this book by the award-winning author of Just Healthcare, Norman Daniels develops a comprehensive theory of justice for health that answers three key questions: what is the special moral importance of health? When are health inequalities unjust? How can we meet health needs fairly when we cannot meet them all? Daniels'theory has implications for national and global health policy: can we meet health needs fairly in ageing societies? Or protect health in the workplace while respecting individual liberty? Or meet professional obligations and obligations of justice without conflict? When is an effort to reduce health disparities, or to set priorities in realising a human right to health, fair? What do richer, healthier societies owe poorer, sicker societies? Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly explores the many ways that social justice is good for the health of populations in developed and developing countries.

A balanced proposal that protects both a patient's access to care and a physician's ability to refuse to provide certain services for reasons of conscience.Physicians in the United States who refuse to perform a variety of legally permissible medical services because of their own moral objections are often protected by “conscience clauses.” These laws, on the books in nearly every state since the legalization of abortion by Roe v. Wade, shield physicians and other health professionals from such potential consequences of refusal as liability and dismissal. While some praise conscience clauses as protecting important freedoms, opponents, concerned with patient access to care, argue that professional refusals should be tolerated only when they are based on valid medical grounds. In Conflicts of Conscience in Health Care, Holly Fernandez Lynch finds a way around the polarizing rhetoric associated with this issue by proposing a compromise that protects both a patient's access to care and a physician's ability to refuse. This focus on compromise is crucial, as new uses of medical technology expand the controversy beyond abortion and contraception to reach an increasing number of doctors and patients. Lynch argues that doctor-patient matching on the basis of personal moral values would eliminate, or at least minimize, many conflicts of conscience, and suggests that state licensing boards facilitate this goal. Licensing boards would be responsible for balancing the interests of doctors and patients by ensuring a sufficient number of willing physicians such that no physician's refusal leaves a patient entirely without access to desired medical services. This proposed solution, Lynch argues, accommodates patients'freedoms while leaving important room in the profession for individuals who find some of the capabilities of medical technology to be ethically objectionable.

The Final Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health sets out key areas of daily living conditions and of the underlying structural drivers that influence them in which action is needed. It provides analysis of social determinants of health and concrete examples of types of action that have proven effective in improving health and health equity in countries at all levels of socioeconomic development.--Publisher's description.

Most of the industrialized world now comprises of multi-ethnic societies, with_x000D_ people from widely varying ancestry, cultures, languages, and beliefs. With_x000D_ globalization of trade, increasing international travel, and migration, the whole_x000D_ world is destined to become multi-ethnic within the next 20 or 30 years. This poses_x000D_ huge challenges for doctors, nurses, public health practitioners, health care_x000D_ managers, and policy makers who have to meet legal and policy obligations to_x000D_ deliverhealth outcomes, and provide health care of equal quality and effectiveness._x000D_ To achieve this, they need a solid understanding of the underlying concepts of race_x000D_ and ethnicity, and how these are applied to achieve better health for ethnic_x000D_ minority populations. They also need to have an awareness of themisuses of these_x000D_ concepts, particularly taking into account the history of racism that permeates many_x000D_ societies to this day.Written in non-technical language, with all terminology_x000D_ explained and defined, this book provides an accessible introduction to these_x000D_ complex issues. The key concepts of race and ethnicity are explained, including_x000D_ their uses and misuses. The strengths and weaknesses of these concepts in terms of_x000D_ epidemiology, policy making, health service planning, research, health care, and_x000D_ health promotion are illustrated. The book emphasises theory, ideas, and principles,_x000D_ and and its aims are to helpcounteract the unethical and atheoretical methods often_x000D_ used to study ethnicity. Practical application of the theory is demonstrated through_x000D_ the use of extensive examples. The conceptual frameworks of ethnicity and race_x000D_ required by practitioners and researchers are slightly different, including the_x000D_ natureof research questions, the relative value of various methods of_x000D_ classification, and the approach to data analysis, presentation, and interpretation,_x000D_ and these differences are made explicit. Overall, the interdependence of theory and_x000D_ practice is demonstrated, making this and ideal foundation text or refresher for_x000D_ those involved in race and ethnicity from a health care perspective.

Foreword by Lisa Berkman, Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University How welfare states influence population health and health inequalities has long been debated but less well tested by empirical research. This book presents new empirical evidence of the effects of Swedish welfare state structures and policies on the lives of Swedish citizens. The discussion, analysis and innovative theoretical approaches developed in the book have implications for health research and policy beyond Scandinavian borders. Drawing on a rich source of longitudinal data, the Swedish Level of Living Surveys (LNU), and other data, the authors shed light on a number of pertinent issues in health inequality research while at the same time showing how health inequalities have evolved in Sweden over several decades. Topics covered include how structural conditions relating to family, socio-economic conditions and the welfare state are important in producing health inequalities; how health inequalities change over the lifecourse and the impact of environment on health inequalities - at home, at school, in the workplace. Health inequalities and welfare resources will be invaluable to researchers, students and practitioners in sociology, social epidemiology, public health and social policy interested in the interplay between society and health.

This book offers a unique multi-disciplinary perspective on tackling health inequalities in a rich country, examining the New Labour policy agenda for tackling health inequalities and its inherent challenges. The book presents an overview of progress since the publication of the seminal and ambitious 1998 Acheson Inquiry into health inequalities, and the theoretical and methodological issues underpinning health inequalities. The contributors consider the determinants of inequality - for example, early childhood experience and ethnicity - the factors that mediate the relationship between determinants and health - nutrition, housing and health behaviour - and the sectoral policy interventions in user involvement, local area partnership working and social work. Challenging health inequalities offers a combination of broad analysis of progress from differing perspectives and will be key reading to academics, students and policy makers.

In the last decade, there has been an explosion of academic interest in health inequality. Although it is seldom stated explicitly, research into this area is inexorably tied to questions of morality and ethics. In this study, Yukiko Asada seeks to acknowledge the role that morality and theories of justice play in health inequality research, and to articulate the moral philosophy underlying this field of inquiry.Comprised of two distinct parts, Health Inequality first proposes a framework for measuring health inequality reflecting moral concern, then goes on to show how this framework can be applied to quantitative study. Using a specific time period as a case study, Asada questions whether or not health equity improved in the United States between 1990 and 1995. She suggests that the question of whether, and by how much, health inequity changed in the United States is dependent on the morality and accompanying empirical strategy used in the analysis.A unique blend of philosophy and quantitative research, Health Inequality will prove a valuable tool for academics and policymakers alike.

Essential reading for anyone who is concerned with global poverty and health disparity.

Where people live matters to their health. Health improvement strategies often target where people live, but do they work? Placing health tackles this question through an examination of England's Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy and its health targets. It evaluates the evidence base for the strategy, compares experiences from the United States and elsewhere in Europe, and illustrates the relevance of complexity theory to area-based health improvement work. The book brings together these topical issues with a social science analysis of current programmes based on the methods and concepts of complexity thinking. It concludes by setting out how local action based on these ideas offers a new approach to area-based health improvement work. Placing health is aimed at researchers, academics and students in the social and health sciences with an interest in area-based health improvement work, as well as practitioners in health services, local government and voluntary agencies working on neighbourhood renewal and health projects.

The social inequalities of health have persisted, or even increased, in Europe in the last few years. This text presents the experiences of professionals from various institutional backgrounds in eight European countries, as well as their recommendations to improve the access of excluded people.

In this book a team of international experts record the important lessons of the past decade and suggest what must be done in the research arena to ensure a healthy future for all. It follows up on the landmark publication Health Research: Essential Link to Equity in Development (Oxford University Press, 1990) and is unique in its combination of evocative human stories and expert insight from international health researchers. Forging Links for Health Research will be of interest to academics, researchers, students, and policymakers in public health, epidemiology, health sciences, international health, development studies, and international affairs; professionals in donor organizations, development organizations, and NGOs worldwide; and concerned citizens, particularly health-care workers, interested in international affairs and Third World development.