Paralleling emerging trends in cyber-health technology, concerns are mounting about racial and ethnic disparities in health care utilization and outcomes. This book brings these themes together, challenging readers to use, promote, and develop new technology-based methods for closing these gaps. Edited by a leading urban health advocate and featuring 16 expert contributors, the book examines cyber-strategies with the greatest potential toward effective, equitable care, improved service delivery and better health outcomes for all. The rise of e-Patients and the transformation of the doctor-patient relationship are also discussed.

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.

In this book, Dr. Richard Allen Williams has assembled the very best scholars on healthcare disparities to raise the public consciousness of this issue. Arranged into discrete categories, this volume contains comprehensive coverage, both historical and current, of the healthcare disparity crisis currently plaguing our country in hopes of leading us all to a brighter future.

The Agency for Healthcare Research Quality commissioned the Institute of Medicine establish a committee to provide guidance on the National Healthcare Disparities Report is of access to health care, utilization of services, and the services received. The committee was asked to con population characteristics as race and ethnicity, society status, and geographic location. It was also asked to examine factors that included possible data sources and types of measures for the report.

Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are known to reflect access to care and other issues that arise from differing socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, increasing evidence that even after such differences are accounted for, race and ethnicity remain significant predictors of the quality of health care received. In Unequal Treatment, a panel of experts documents this evidence and explores how persons of color experience the health care environment. The book examines how disparities in treatment may arise in health care systems and looks at aspects of the clinical encounter that may contribute to such disparities. Patients' and providers' attitudes, expectations, and behavior are analyzed. How to intervene? Unequal Treatment offers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas. The committee highlights the potential of cross-cultural education to improve provider-patient communication and offers a detailed look at how to integrate cross-cultural learning within the health professions. The book concludes with recommendations for data collection and research initiatives. Unequal Treatment will be vitally important to health care policymakers, administrators, providers, educators, and students as well as advocates for people of color.

Health Equity: A Solutions-Focused Approach is a comprehensive textbook that illustrates existing conditions of health disparities across a range of populations in the United States, positions those disparities within the broader sociopolitical framework that leads to their existence, and most importantly, presents specific ways in which health equity solutions can be designed and implemented. Presenting current theoretical foundations, cultural context, and evidence-based models and interventions all in one, this textbook provides students with the basis to achieve greater health equity in their communities. Edited by award-winning authors and featuring contributions from diverse experts in public health, sociology, psychology, and medicine, this groundbreaking text goes beyond a traditional approach to risk factors and disparities and emphasizes the central role that health equity initiatives must play in public health research and practice. The book is divided into three sections, with Section I focusing on providing the context of health equity research and practice. Chapters are structured in such a way that both new and experienced students in the field will develop a deeper understanding of topics such as prejudice and discrimination; frameworks and theories; and research and collaboration approaches. Section II addresses the current knowledge of specific populations impacted by issues related to health equity, including African American, Latinx and Hispanic, Asian, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, LGBTQ, Veteran, People with Disabilities, and many more. Authored or co-authored by members of the community being discussed, each of these chapters summarizes how health disparities impact the group, ongoing population-specific models of disparities and equity, emerging programs for achieving health equity, coverage of the most relevant aspects of intersectionality, and concluding exercises such as case studies and current events. Section III then highlights the role of cultural humility in achieving health equity. With its solutions-focused and community-affirming approach, Health Equity provides graduate and undergraduate students of public health with evidence-based models to help advance health through diversity, inclusion, and social justice. Key Features: Origins and Theories – Discusses the sociocultural and political origins of health disparities and the major theories that underlie an understanding of health equity Solutions-Focused – Describes emerging models and gives best practices in designing new programs Diverse Population Coverage – Provides historical context, sociocultural dynamics, and population-specific evidence-based programs from the voices of the communities being discussed Intersectionality Perspective – Highlights the role that overlapping and interdependent identities play in promoting health equity and the interventions that build from this perspective Case Studies and Real-World Examples – Demonstrates how to apply health equity improvement approaches in different contexts eBook access –Included with print purchase for use on most mobile devices or computers Instructor’s Packet – With an Instructor’s Manual, PowerPoint slides, Test Bank, and a Sample Syllabus

To receive the greatest value for health care, it is important to focus on issues of quality and disparity, and the ability of individuals to make appropriate decisions based on basic health knowledge and services. The Forum on the Science of Health Care Quality Improvement and Implementation, the Roundtable on Health Disparities, and the Roundtable on Health Literacy jointly convened the workshop "Toward Health Equity and Patient-Centeredness: Integrating Health Literacy, Disparities Reduction, and Quality Improvement" to address these concerns. During this workshop, speakers and participants explored how equity in care delivered and a focus on patients could be improved.