The African American Community is facing a health crisis. We are in a predicament in which excessive eating is the order of the day. This overindulgence of food has caused obesity, infant mortality, hypertension, heart failure, diabetes, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and eventual death. The purpose of this book is to build awareness of the health crisis facing the black community, develop a health education model suitable for use in large and small groups that would serve to improve diet and exercise in at-risk individuals and promote the establishment of Faith and Health initiates in the local church.

The African American community is facing a health crisis. We are in a predicament in which excessive eating is the order of the day. This overindulgence of food has caused obesity, infant mortality, hypertension, heart failure, diabetes, kidney disease/failure, cardiovascular disease, and eventual death. The purpose of this book is to build public awareness of the health crisis facing the black community, develop a health education model suitable for use in large and small groups that would serve to improve diet and exercise in at-risk individuals and promote the establishment of Faith and Health initiates in the local church.

This book speaks to those who influence the delivery of health care services to African Americans, especially policy makers, politicians, and health care providers whose attitudes and beliefs affect the extent to which provided services are effective, reliable, humane, and compassionate. In addition, the purpose is to be of use to a full range of professionals who provide education, health care, and social services for African Americans, irrespective of the program, the service, or the professional discipline. the goal is to facilitate cultural competence in health care delivery.

The linkages between a student’s health and a student’s ability to learn have been well established. Children who are sick stay home; and, children at home cannot learn if they are not in school leading to increased dropout rates among other educational outcomes. However, an understanding of this concept is just the beginning of understanding how education and public health are inextricably linked. ? In light of this, Linking Health and Education for African American Students’ Success examines health disparities and education inequities simultaneously and moves beyond a basic understanding of health and education in K-12 school programs. The structural inequalities which lead to reduced academic attainment mirror the social determinants of health. Education is one of the most powerful determinants of health, and disparities in educational achievement as a result of structural inequalities closely track disparities in health. These disparities lead to both sub-standard healthcare and reduced academic attainment among children from underserved minorities in the United States, especially African Americans. ? This book discusses how this may result in children with poorer mental health outcomes; higher school dropout rates; increased risks of arrests and incarceration; higher rates of chronic diseases and mortality; and overall diminished opportunities for success, while providing suggestions as to how to address these issues. This results in an insightful read for researchers, academics and practitioners in the fields of healthcare and education.

Health Issues in the Black Community THIRD EDITION "The outstanding editors and authors of Health Issues in the Black Community have placed in clear perspective the challenges and opportunities we face in working to achieve the goal of health equity in America." David Satcher, MD, PhD, 16th Surgeon General of the United States and director, Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine "Eliminating health disparities must be a central goal of any forward thinking national health policy. Health Issues in the Black Community makes a valuable contribution to a much-needed dialogue by focusing on the challenges of the black community." Marc Morial, Esq., president, National Urban League "Health Issues in the Black Community illuminates comprehensively the range of health conditions specifically affecting African Americans, and the health disparities both within the black community and between racial and ethnic groups. Each chapter, whether addressing the health of African Americans by age, gender, type of disease, condition or behavior, is well-detailed and tells an important story. Together, they offer practitioners, consumers, scholars, and policymakers a crucial roadmap to address and change the social determinants of health, reduce disparities, and create more equal treatment for all Americans." Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA, president, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation "I recommend Health Issues in the Black Community as a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of the African American community. Health disparities continues to be one of the major issues confronting the black community. This book will help to highlight the issues and keep attention focused on the work to be done." Elsie Scott, PhD, president of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation "This book is the definitive examination of health issues in black America issues sadly overlooked and downplayed in our culture and society. I congratulate Drs. Braithwaite, Taylor, and Treadwell for their monumental book." Cornel West, PhD, professor, Princeton University

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.

Vigorous action must be directed to prevent disease, promote overall health, and deliver appropriate care within the African American population. In this thoroughly updated and revised edition of Health Issues in the Black Community the authors offer an in-depth examination of the most pressing health problems confronting the black community. Written by a stellar panel of scholars and practitioners in the field, this valuable resource examines such topics as chronic illnesses, the effect of violence, and health policy. Health Issues in the Black Community also contains the most current thinking on relevant health, delivery, lifestyle, and policy issues.