An in-depth look at disparities in health and health care, fully updated for 2021 Vulnerable Populations in the United States, 3rd Edition provides a general framework for studying vulnerable populations and summarizes major health and health care disparities by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and health insurance coverage. This updated contains the latest statistics and figures, incorporates new information related to Healthy People 2020, analyzes the latest data and trends in health and health care disparities, and provides a detailed synthesis of recent and increasingly expansive programs and initiatives to remedy these disparities. In addition, the Third Edition offers new coverage of health care reform, the "deaths of despair" (suicide, opioids, etc.), and the global primary care initiative. Based on the authors' teaching and research at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, this landmark text is an important resource for students, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers for learning about vulnerable populations. The book's Web site includes instructor's materials that may be downloaded. Gain a general understanding of health and health care disparities related to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and health insurance coverage Access online resources including editable PowerPoint slides, video, and more Delve into the programs and initiatives designed to remedy inequalities in health and health care, including Healthy People 2020 updates Enjoy new coverage of health care reform, the "deaths of despair" (suicide, opioids, etc.), and the global primary care initiative End of chapter revision questions and other pedagogical features make this book a valuable learning tool for anyone studying at the advanced undergraduate or graduate levels. Additionally, it will prove useful in the field for medical professionals, social and community workers, and health educators in the public sphere.

This book advocates for community-based research with vulnerable populations within the field of higher education. The chapters outline how research can democratize knowledge generation to make it more accessible and socially relevant, and emphasizes the value of the lived and experiential knowledge of vulnerable and marginalized populations. Rooted in a critique of the current practices of higher education that fail to support participatory and transformative research, the research is structured at micro, macro and meso levels to ultimately emancipate colonized thinking of stakeholders about power, privilege and participation. Focusing primarily on various contexts within the Global South, the contributors argue that the time is ripe for community-based research which combines the theoretical knowledge of the academy with the local, experiential knowledge of those experiencing the consequences of social inequality to co-construct knowledge for change.

Over the past four decades, the rate of incarceration in the United States has skyrocketed to unprecedented heights, both historically and in comparison to that of other developed nations. At far higher rates than the general population, those in or entering U.S. jails and prisons are prone to many health problems. This is a problem not just for them, but also for the communities from which they come and to which, in nearly all cases, they will return. Health and Incarceration is the summary of a workshop jointly sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences(NAS) Committee on Law and Justice and the Institute of Medicine(IOM) Board on Health and Select Populations in December 2012. Academics, practitioners, state officials, and nongovernmental organization representatives from the fields of healthcare, prisoner advocacy, and corrections reviewed what is known about these health issues and what appear to be the best opportunities to improve healthcare for those who are now or will be incarcerated. The workshop was designed as a roundtable with brief presentations from 16 experts and time for group discussion. Health and Incarceration reviews what is known about the health of incarcerated individuals, the healthcare they receive, and effects of incarceration on public health. This report identifies opportunities to improve healthcare for these populations and provides a platform for visions of how the world of incarceration health can be a better place.

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No other book on the subject Chronic diseases, especially those associated with poor nutrition, obesity, and addiction have grown to epidemic proportion in many poor and minority populations Covers all essential topics, including Navigating Language Barriers, Understanding Disability, Patient Education, Substance Abusers, the Care of Gay and Lesbian Patients, Reproductive Issues in Poor Women, and much more

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.

Culturally safe healthcare is rapidly challenging previous notions of cultural competency or cultural sensitivity in healthcare provision. The increasing number of vulnerable populations means healthcare must be given by a healthcare provider who has developed a social consciousness in relation to his or her own socio-cultural positioning versus that of the patient. A culturally safe practitioner has engaged in an active examination of the power differences existing in this patient-provider relationship. In this book, Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu critically analyzes the complex issues affecting the health of vulnerable populations. Written from a critical theoretical perspective she seeks to enhance the ability of the healthcare student to develop a social consciousness about the realities faced by many populations living on the margins of society, and thereafter make an active and conscious decision to engage in culturally safe healthcare and contribute to the elimination of health disparities. Through the application of postcolonial feminist theory this book conceptualizes health as being historically situated in social relations of power and emphasizes health interventions that are potentially empowering, and enhance emancipatory change. Through discussions of health provision for ethnic minorities, immigrant populations, and refugees, the book seeks to provide pragmatic guidance for culturally safe care for a variety of marginalized populations and invites students and professionals to think deeply about the implications of power, culture and health.