Download or read book Communities in Action written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Download or read book Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2004-10-16 with total page 753 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.

Download or read book Social Epidemiology written by Lisa F. Berkman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2000-03-09 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book shows the important links between social conditions and health and begins to describe the processes through which these health inequalities may be generated. It reviews a range of methodologies that could be used by health researchers in this field and proposes innovative future research directions.

Download or read book The Future of the Public s Health in the 21st Century written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-02-01 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.

Download or read book How s Life in the Digital Age Opportunities and Risks of the Digital Transformation for People s Well being written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2019-02-26 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report documents how the ongoing digital transformation is affecting people’s lives across the 11 key dimensions that make up the How’s Life? Well-being Framework (Income and wealth, Jobs and earnings, Housing, Health status, Education and skills, Work-life balance, Civic engagement and ...

Download or read book The Social Determinants of Mental Health written by Michael T. Compton and published by American Psychiatric Pub. This book was released on 2015-04-01 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Social Determinants of Mental Health aims to fill the gap that exists in the psychiatric, scholarly, and policy-related literature on the social determinants of mental health: those factors stemming from where we learn, play, live, work, and age that impact our overall mental health and well-being. The editors and an impressive roster of chapter authors from diverse scholarly backgrounds provide detailed information on topics such as discrimination and social exclusion; adverse early life experiences; poor education; unemployment, underemployment, and job insecurity; income inequality, poverty, and neighborhood deprivation; food insecurity; poor housing quality and housing instability; adverse features of the built environment; and poor access to mental health care. This thought-provoking book offers many beneficial features for clinicians and public health professionals: Clinical vignettes are included, designed to make the content accessible to readers who are primarily clinicians and also to demonstrate the practical, individual-level applicability of the subject matter for those who typically work at the public health, population, and/or policy level. Policy implications are discussed throughout, designed to make the content accessible to readers who work primarily at the public health or population level and also to demonstrate the policy relevance of the subject matter for those who typically work at the clinical level. All chapters include five to six key points that focus on the most important content, helping to both prepare the reader with a brief overview of the chapter's main points and reinforce the "take-away" messages afterward. In addition to the main body of the book, which focuses on selected individual social determinants of mental health, the volume includes an in-depth overview that summarizes the editors' and their colleagues' conceptualization, as well as a final chapter coauthored by Dr. David Satcher, 16th Surgeon General of the United States, that serves as a "Call to Action," offering specific actions that can be taken by both clinicians and policymakers to address the social determinants of mental health. The editors have succeeded in the difficult task of balancing the individual/clinical/patient perspective and the population/public health/community point of view, while underscoring the need for both groups to work in a unified way to address the inequities in twenty-first century America. The Social Determinants of Mental Health gives readers the tools to understand and act to improve mental health and reduce risk for mental illnesses for individuals and communities. Students preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) will also benefit from this book, as the MCAT in 2015 will test applicants' knowledge of social determinants of health. The social determinants of mental health are not distinct from the social determinants of physical health, although they deserve special emphasis given the prevalence and burden of poor mental health.

Download or read book The New Blackwell Companion to Medical Sociology written by William C. Cockerham and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-09-26 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authoritative, topical, and comprehensive reference to the key concepts and most important traditional and contemporary issues in medical sociology. Contains 35 chapters by recognized experts in the field, both established and rising young scholars Covers standard topics in the field as well as new and engaging issues such as bioterrorism, bioethics, and infectious disease Chapters are thematically arranged to cover the major issues of the sub-discipline Global range of contributors and an international perspective

Download or read book The Blackwell Companion to Medical Sociology written by William C. Cockerham and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-05-12 with total page 597 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Blackwell Companion to Medical Sociology is a comprehensive collection of twenty-six original essays by leading medical sociologists from all over the world. The articles are organized both topically and by region to provide thorough coverage of the concerns, issues, and future directions of the discipline. This invaluable resource is the most informed, complete, and up-to-date reference on transnational medical sociology available today. Covers both substantive areas in medical sociology and regional perspectives located in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa First comparative perspective to provide a comprehensive view of the field

Download or read book Applied Demography and Public Health in the 21st Century written by M. Nazrul Hoque and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-10-19 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book demonstrates different statistical techniques for analyzing health-related data as well as providing new techniques for forecasting and/or projecting the incidence of diseases/disorders. It presents information on a variety of health related issues from the developed and developing world. Featuring cutting edge research from distinguished applied demographers and public health specialists, the book bridges the gap between theory and research. Each chapter provides methods and materials that can be used to conduct further research aimed at promoting public health issues. This book is intended for public health professionals, health policy makers, social epidemiologists, administrators, researchers, and students in the fields of applied demography and public health who are interested in exploring the potential of ground-breaking research or who want to further develop their existing research techniques. It complements another volume in the Applied Demography Series, Applied Demography and Public Health (Springer, 2013), which describes how applied demographic techniques can be used to help address public health issues.

Download or read book The Atlas of Health Inequalities in Japan written by Tomoki Nakaya and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-10-04 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new health atlas of Japan presents a series of maps about the health of the contemporary Japanese population, i.e. detailed maps of health indicators in small areas using cartograms. This is the first comprehensive small-area based health atlas about contemporary Japan using vital statistics from 1995-2014. Each map is supplemented with concise explanations written by leading epidemiologists and health geographers in Japan. The book employs various cutting-edge methods in spatial epidemiology, Bayesian spatial smoothing for the reliable mapping of mortality indices, advanced cartographic transformations using the concept of aerial cartograms, and summary statistics of socioeconomic health inequalities. The atlas highlights geographical aspects of social gradients in health by comparing mortality maps with distribution of deprivation index during the recent long-lasting economic stagnation period of Japan known as the lost decades. This health atlas will be a useful resource for international comparisons between Japan and other advanced countries in terms of health and related socioeconomic disparities between regions. It will be of interest to public health practitioners, administrators, researchers and students working on health geography and public health.

Download or read book Social Epidemiology written by Lisa F. Berkman and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social epidemiology is the study of how the social world influences -- and in many cases defines -- the fundamental determinants of health. This link was substantiated in the first edition of Social Epidemiology, and the generation of research that followed has fundamentally changed the way we understand epidemiology and public health. This much-awaited second edition elevates the field again, first by codifying the last decade of research, then by extending it to examine how public policies impact health. The new edition includes: - 11 fully updated chapters, including entries on the links between health and discrimination, income inequality, social networks, and emotion - Four all-new chapters on the role of policies in shaping health, including how to translate evidence into action with multi-level interventions - Updated references, detailing the best research over the last two decades The result is a bold, brilliant text that will serve the new world of epidemiology in which scientists both observe health and design interventions to improve it. Social Epidemiology again sets an intellectual agenda and provides an essential foundation for those interested in social determinants of health around the world.

Download or read book Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2016-09-03 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans will experience a mental health problem or will misuse alcohol or drugs in their lifetimes. These disorders are among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they remain barriers to full participation in society in areas as basic as education, housing, and employment. Improving the lives of people with mental health and substance abuse disorders has been a priority in the United States for more than 50 years. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 is considered a major turning point in America's efforts to improve behavioral healthcare. It ushered in an era of optimism and hope and laid the groundwork for the consumer movement and new models of recovery. The consumer movement gave voice to people with mental and substance use disorders and brought their perspectives and experience into national discussions about mental health. However over the same 50-year period, positive change in American public attitudes and beliefs about mental and substance use disorders has lagged behind these advances. Stigma is a complex social phenomenon based on a relationship between an attribute and a stereotype that assigns undesirable labels, qualities, and behaviors to a person with that attribute. Labeled individuals are then socially devalued, which leads to inequality and discrimination. This report contributes to national efforts to understand and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that can lead to stigma and discrimination. Changing stigma in a lasting way will require coordinated efforts, which are based on the best possible evidence, supported at the national level with multiyear funding, and planned and implemented by an effective coalition of representative stakeholders. Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change explores stigma and discrimination faced by individuals with mental or substance use disorders and recommends effective strategies for reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment and other supportive services. It offers a set of conclusions and recommendations about successful stigma change strategies and the research needed to inform and evaluate these efforts in the United States.

Download or read book Social Epidemiology written by Lisa F. Berkman PhD and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-09 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social epidemiology is the study of how the social world influences -- and in many cases defines -- the fundamental determinants of health. This link was substantiated in the first edition of Social Epidemiology, and the generation of research that followed has fundamentally changed the way we understand epidemiology and public health. This much-awaited second edition elevates the field again, first by codifying the last decade of research, then by extending it to examine how public policies impact health. The new edition includes: · 11 fully updated chapters, including entries on the links between health and discrimination, income inequality, social networks, and emotion · Four all-new chapters on the role of policies in shaping health, including how to translate evidence into action with multi-level interventions · Updated references, detailing the best research over the last two decades The result is a bold, brilliant text that will serve the new world of epidemiology in which scientists both observe health and design interventions to improve it. Social Epidemiology again sets an intellectual agenda and provides an essential foundation for those interested in social determinants of health around the world.

Download or read book Economic and Social Factors Affecting the Health of Older Adults written by Colette Joy Browning and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2023-12-11 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2020 over 1 billion of the world’s population were over the age of 60 years old, and it is expected to double by 2050 according to WHO. Due to the growing population of older adults, there is a focus on healthy aging that will benefit the individuals and the wider communities as older adults will be able to support family members and partake in paid or voluntary work for a longer period of time. Currently a large number of older adults are unable to work, increasing the likelihood of economic instability with fewer streams of income. Economic instability has been proven to have health impacts including declining mental wellbeing, malnutrition, and the inability to afford prescribed medications. Social isolation proves to be another important factor in the overall health of older adults. The CDC reports that poor social interactions have been linked to a higher risk of developing multiple serious medical conditions.

Download or read book Care Without Coverage written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-06-20 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many Americans believe that people who lack health insurance somehow get the care they really need. Care Without Coverage examines the real consequences for adults who lack health insurance. The study presents findings in the areas of prevention and screening, cancer, chronic illness, hospital-based care, and general health status. The committee looked at the consequences of being uninsured for people suffering from cancer, diabetes, HIV infection and AIDS, heart and kidney disease, mental illness, traumatic injuries, and heart attacks. It focused on the roughly 30 million-one in seven-working-age Americans without health insurance. This group does not include the population over 65 that is covered by Medicare or the nearly 10 million children who are uninsured in this country. The main findings of the report are that working-age Americans without health insurance are more likely to receive too little medical care and receive it too late; be sicker and die sooner; and receive poorer care when they are in the hospital, even for acute situations like a motor vehicle crash.

Download or read book Mental Health written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Routledge International Handbook of Psychosocial Epidemiology written by Mika Kivimäki and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-12-14 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The health effects of psychosocial factors are a widely discussed and controversial topic. Do positive and negative emotions affect our risk of developing physical disease? Are depressive individuals more likely to have cancer than those with an optimistic outlook on life? And what is the role of IQ in staying healthy and recovering from disease? Importantly, can we improve our health and life expectancy by avoiding certain psychosocial risk factors and maximizing positive psychological well-being? These and other questions are the focus of psychosocial epidemiology, a discipline linking psychological, social and biological sciences. The Routledge International Handbook of Psychosocial Epidemiology is the first book to map this growing discipline. Including contributions from many of the leading researchers in the field, it is divided into five sections: Part I: Methodological challenges in studying psychosocial factors and health; Part II: Psychosocial factors in the etiology and prognosis of chronic diseases; Part III: Controversies in the psychosocial approach; Part IV: Interventions and policy implications Part V: Future research directions Taking advantage of a huge growth in research in recent years, the book provides the reader with the essentials to evaluate the diverse set of studies on psychosocial factors and health that are published today, and describes study designs in this field of research, progress in judging the validity of epidemiological evidence, as well as challenges in translating evidence into action. This is an important and timely book. Providing methodological rigour, critical analysis and the policy implications of this emerging field of study, The Routledge International Handbook of Psychosocial Epidemiology will be an invaluable resource for students and researchers within both behavioural and medical sciences, as well as policy makers and others working in health and social care.