Ethnicity, Race, and Health in Multicultural Societies: Foundations for Better Epidemiology, Public Health, and Health Care
Author(s): Raj S. Bhopal (Author)
- Publisher: Oxford University Press, U.S.A.
- Publication Date: 22 Feb. 2007
- Language: English
- Print length: 376 pages
- ISBN-10: 0198568177
- ISBN-13: 9780198568179
Book Description
Most of the industrialized world now comprises multi-ethnic societies, with people from widely varying ancestry, cultures, languages, and beliefs. With the globalization of trade, increasing international travel, and migration, the whole world is destined to become multi-ethnic within the next 20 or 30 years. This change poses huge challenges for doctors, nurses, public health practitioners, health-care managers, and policy makers who have to meet legal and policy obligations to deliver health outcomes, and provide health-care of equal quality and effectiveness. To achieve this, they need a solid understanding of the underlying concepts of race and ethnicity, and how these are applied to achieve better health for ethnic-minority populations. They also need to have an awareness of the misuses of these concepts, particularly taking into account the history of racism that permeates many societies to this day. Written in non-technical language, with all terminology explained and defined, this book provides an accessible introduction to these complex issues. The key concepts of race and ethnicity are explained, including their uses and misuses. The strengths and weaknesses of these concepts in terms of epidemiology, policy-making, health service planning, research, health-care, and health promotion are illustrated. The book emphasizes theory, ideas, and principles, and counters the study of ethnicity and race in a theoretical way. Practical application of the theory is demonstrated through the use of extensive examples. The conceptual frameworks of ethnicity and race required by practitioners and researchers are slightly different, including the nature of research questions, the relative value of various methods of classification, and the approach to data analysis, presentation, and interpretation, and these differences are made explicit. Overall, the interdependence of theory and practice is demonstrated, making this an
Editorial Reviews
Review
Professor Bhopal has produced an invaluable addition to the growing mountain of resources on ethnicity and health...One of the greatest merits of this text is that it is written by someone who has been involved in high-quality research on ethnicity and health in many contexts and for many years. The author therefore is able to draw upon first-hand experience or research with which he has been associated, as well as providing examples from other key players in the field. Diversity in Health and Social Care The message and information in this book are thought provoking and of practical value. I recommend it to every library, public health professional, research scholar, academic, clinician, nurse, manager and care provider int he UK and abroad. Bashir Qureshi, Public Health Bhopal has created an important foundational resource for those teaching, practicing and/or performing research in a racially/ethnically diverse environment. Journal of the National Medical Association, vol 100, no.8 Professor Bhopal presents us with a thought-provoking, analytic and comprehensive treatise on the concepts of culture in society in general and, subsequently, how we look at health and disease...This book provides value to students of public health and cultural diversity, as well as to researchers...Its contents are valuable to clinicians...For those teaching or engaging in scholarly activity in the community, this book is an invaluable resource. I highly recommend it! Journal of the National Medical Association, vol 100, no. 8 The book's clear presentation of methods of enquiry grounded in examples of health-care policy and planning is designed to encourage changes in actual practice. Bulletin of the WHO Professor Bhopal must be commended for taking on such an important, complex and timely issue...and this book will appeal to postgraduates in science, social sciences, public health, epidemiology and medicine, but undergrads may find the book useful and interesting as well. Preventive Medicine Addressing the inequities that create and sustain ethnic disparities in health is an ongoing challenge in public health. [The book] will undoubtedly become a seminal text in [the field]. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health Bhopal's important and comprehensive Ethnicity, Race, and Health in Multicultural Societies challenges us to achieve better health for ethnic minority populations... provides critical and thought-provoking insights into public health research and clinical practice with multiethnic population. The Lancet It is a rare book that appeals equally to clinicians, policy-makers and academics. But Raj Bhopal, Professor of Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, brings his vast expertise in health and multicultural studies to bear in this authoritative text... This book will withstand the test of time and is excellent value for money. It is a resource you will want to keep on your desk, not on the shelf. Nursing Standard This is no ordinary book. It is an ideal companion for anyone interested in finding their way through the forest of ignorance, misinformation and prejudice that surround the concepts of ethnicity and race and what they have to do with health and health care provision. Dr Laurence Gruer, Director of Public Health Science, NHS Health Scotland
Book Description
This book aims to convey the concepts of race and ethnicity and demonstrate how these can be applied in scientific research, policy making, health service planning, and health promotion.
About the Author
Professor Raj Bhopal has written approximately 150 peer reviewed works on subjects including Legionnaires' disease, environmental epidemiology, primary care, ethnicity and health, and the applications of epidemiology. His textbook, Concepts of Epidemiology, published by Oxford University Press in 2002, won the B.M.A. 1st prize in the Public Health category in December 2003. He has served as non-executive Director of the Health Education Authority (1996-1999).In 2000 he was awarded the J. W. Starkey Silver Medal (2000) of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health for "outstanding work in the promotion of health in medical, paramedical and psychiatric fields". Professor Bhopal was appointed C.B.E. in 2001 for his services to public health; and in November 2005 he was awarded an honorary D.S.C. by Queen Margaret University College for his services to the improvement of health in the community.
View on Amazon
Wow! eBook
