Main description:

Outstanding Academic Title, Choice magazine The health care system in the United States has been called the best in the world. Yet wide health disparities persist between different social groups, and many Americans suffer from poorer health than people in other developed countries. Donald A. Barr's Health Disparities in the United States explores how socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity interact with socioeconomic inequality to create and perpetuate these health disparities. Examining the significance of this gulf for the medical community, cultural subsets, and society at large, Barr offers potential policy- and physician-based solutions for reducing health inequity in the long term. This popular course book, which has been fully updated, now incorporates significant new material, including a chapter on the profound effects of inequality on child development, behavioral choices, and adult health status. An essential text for courses in public health, health policy, and sociology, the second edition analyzes the complex web of social forces that influence health outcomes in the United States.
This book is a vital teaching tool and a comprehensive reference for social science and medical professionals.

Contents:

1. Introduction to the Social Roots of Health Disparities
2. What Is "Health"? How Should We Define It? How Should We Measure It?
3. The Relationship between Socioeconomic Status and Health, or, "They Call It 'Poor Health' for a Reason"
4. Understanding How Low Social Status Leads to Poor Health
5. Race, Ethnicity, and Health
6. Race/Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, and Health: Which Is More Important in Affecting Health Status?
7. Children's Health Disparities
8. All Things Being Equal, Does Race/Ethnicity Affect How Physicians Treat Patients?
9. Why Does Race/Ethnicity Affect the Way Physicians Treat Patients?
10. When, if Ever, Is It Appropriate to Use a Patient's Race/Ethnicity to Guide Medical Decisions?
11. What Should We Do to Reduce Health Disparities?