Health Issues in the Black Community E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1410

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

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

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

REFERENCES

PREFACE

CONTENTS OVERVIEW

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

EDITOR BIOGRAPHIES

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

PART 1 - HEALTH STATUS ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN

CHAPTER 1 - AFRICAN AMERICAN HEALTH: AN OVERVIEW

HEART DISEASE

CANCER

STROKE

DIABETES

HOMICIDE

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 2 - “WITHOUT HEALTH AND LONG LIFE ALL ELSE FAILS”

ROOTS OF ACTIVITIES TO ELIMINATE DISPARITIES IN HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE

AFRICAN AMERICAN SOCIAL SCIENTISTS AND PHYSICIANS ADDRESS DISPARITIES, 1891-1945

AFRICAN AMERICAN SELF-HELP ACTIVITIES, 1913-1948

CONCLUSION: FROM THE MEDICAL CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT TO THE HECKLER REPORT

CHAPTER 3 - THE HEALTH STATUS OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

INFANT MORTALITY

CHILD IMMUNIZATIONS

UNINTENTIONAL INJURIES

OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY

CHRONIC DISEASES

UNINTENDED PREGNANCY, STIs, AND HIV/AIDS

SUBSTANCE USE

DELINQUENCY AND CRIMINALITY

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIT AND TRUANCY

FOSTER CARE

POVERTY AND ACCESS TO CARE

PROTECTIVE FACTORS

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 4 - THE HEALTH STATUS OF BLACK WOMEN

DISEASE, HYPERTENSION, AND STROKE

CANCER

MATERNAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

OBESITY AND DIABETES

LUPUS

HIV/AIDS

DOMESTIC AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE

MENTAL HEALTH

VULNERABLE POPULATIONS

SUMMARY

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 5 - THE HEALTH STATUS OF BLACK MEN

AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN’S HEALTH STATUS

IMPACT OF SOCIAL POLICIES ON BLACK MEN’S HEALTH

NEIGHBORHOOD CONDITIONS AND HEALTH

THE REALITY OF RACE: STRESS AND HEALTH

DEFINING BARRIERS TO MEN’S PARTICIPATION IN HEALTH CARE

SOCIOECONOMIC EXPERIENCES: EMPLOYMENT

DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH PRACTICES

KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF HEALTH CHALLENGES

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

INCOME

RECOMMENDATIONS AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

HEALTH AS A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE

THE GLOBAL CAUSE

RACISM: SOCIAL REALITY AS HEALTH RISK

RELEVANCE OF SOCIAL HISTORIES AND SOCIAL CONTEXT

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL OUTREACH TO AFRICAN AMERICAN MALES

IDENTIFYING AND COMBATING “JOHN HENRYISM”

HOLISTIC NOTIONS OF HEALTH

ENLISTING FAMILY AND COMMUNITY

REDEFINING HEALTH AS A MASCULINE IDEAL

ADDRESSING DISTRUST OF THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS BENEFIT TO SOCIETY

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 6 - HEALTH AND BLACK OLDER ADULTS

HEALTH STATUS OF BLACK OLDER ADULTS

LIFE-COURSE CONSIDERATIONS

EMERGING ISSUES IN THE HEALTH OF AGING BLACKS

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

PART 2 - SOCIAL, MENTAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES

CHAPTER 7 - STIGMA AND MENTAL HEALTH IN AFRICAN AMERICANS

STIGMA AND MENTAL HEALTH

MENTAL ILLNESS STIGMA IN AFRICAN AMERICANS

HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS AND STIGMA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 8 - HOMICIDE AND VIOLENCE AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUTH: FROM EPIDEMIC ...

THE COSTS OF VIOLENCE AND HOMICIDE AMONG YOUTH

DEFINITIONS OF HOMICIDE AND VIOLENCE

CONCEPTUAL APPROACH: AN ECO-DEVELOPMENTAL FRAMEWORK OF YOUTH VIOLENCE

SOCIAL CAPITAL: AN INNOVATIVE AND INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO YOUTH VIOLENCE

APPROACHES TO ADDRESSING YOUTH VIOLENCE AND HOMICIDE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ...

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 9 - NARROWING THE GAP BETWEEN SUPPLY AND DEMAND OF ORGANS FOR TRANSPLANTATION

THE NEED FOR TRANSPLANTATION AMONG MINORITIES

EXAMINING THE FORCES OF DEMAND FOR TRANSPLANTS AND SUPPLY OF ORGANS

APPROACHES TO CREATING A STATE OF EQUILIBRIUM

POLICY IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CLOSING THE GAP, AND CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 10 - AFRICAN AMERICANS ON THE FRONT LINE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSAULT

HISTORICAL BACKDROP

THE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE PARADIGM

DEADLY DUMPING GROUNDS AT THE FENCELINE

A CALL FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 11 - THE IMPACT OF INCARCERATION ON THE HEALTH OF AFRICAN AMERICANS

BACKGROUND TRENDS

HEALTH STATUS OF INCARCERATED AFRICAN AMERICANS

CAUSES FOR DISPARITIES IN HEALTH AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN AND WHITE INCARCERATED POPULATIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES

PART 3 - CHRONIC DISEASES

CHAPTER 12 - HYPERTENSION IN AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF HYPERTENSION

ETIOLOGY OF HYPERTENSION: THE ROLE OF BIOLOGICAL FACTORS

ETIOLOGY OF HYPERTENSION: THE ROLE OF PSYCHOSOCIAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS

HYPERTENSION AND CARDIOVASCULAR COMPLICATIONS: RACIAL DISPARITIES

TREATMENT OF HYPERTENSION: MULTILEVEL INTERVENTIONS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES

SUMMARY

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 13 - A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF CANCER IN THE UNITED STATES

SCREENING GUIDELINES

CANCER BURDEN AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS

RISK FACTORS, SYMPTOMS, AND TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR THE FOUR LEADING CANCERS

NEEDED ACTIONS—IMPLICATIONS FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS AND OTHER MINORITY POPULATIONS

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 14 - HEALTH DISPARITIES: THE CASE FOR DIABETES

EPIDEMIOLOGY AND DISPARITIES OF DIABETES PREVALENCE

ADVERSE EFFECTS OF DIABETES

PREVENTION OF DIABETES

ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE RESOURCES

INTERVENTIONS TAILORED TO THE PATIENT’S CULTURAL BACKGROUND AND LITERACY LEVEL

ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF DIABETES PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT

CONSIDERATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 15 - SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

RELEVANT AND RECENT EPIDEMIOLOGY

BLACK DISPARITIES IN LUPUS

THE GEORGIA LUPUS REGISTRY

POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CLOSING THE DISPARITY GAP

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 16 - ORAL HEALTH

RESEARCH: ACQUISITION AND APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE

EDUCATION: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORAL HEALTH AND LACK OF PRACTITIONERS OF COLOR

THE CHALLENGES IN DENTAL EDUCATION

SERVICE: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE; COMMUNITY, GROUP, AND INDIVIDUAL

SUMMARY

REFERENCES

PART 4 - LIFESTYLE BEHAVIORS

CHAPTER 17 - SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY

SCOPE OF SUBSTANCE USE IN THE UNITED STATES

DEPENDENCE VERSUS ADDICTION

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS: THE IMPACT ON SUBSTANCE ABUSE

MECHANISMS OF ADDICTION AND DEPENDENCE

THE IMPACT OF NICOTINE AND ALCOHOL

PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING SUBSTANCES: SUBSTANCE ABUSE AMONG ATHLETES

DRUG USE COMORBIDITIES

DRUGS AND SEXUAL BEHAVIOR

SUBSTANCE USE AND TUBERCULOSIS

ETHNICITY AND SENTENCING FOR DRUG OFFENSES

INCARCERATION AND DRUG-RELATED INFECTIOUS DISEASES

SUMMARY

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 18 - HIV/AIDS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY

NATURE OF THE PROBLEM

EPIDEMIOLOGY

CURRENT RESEARCH

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

LESSONS LEARNED, BEST PRACTICES, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 19 - TOBACCO USE AND THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN THE UNITED STATES

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND: EPIDEMIOLOGICAL TRENDS

ELIMINATING THE BLACK-WHITE DISPARITY: A CASE STUDY

INTERVENTIONS: 1990-2001

POST-2001 INITIATIVES

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MODEL TO ELIMINATE POPULATION DISPARITIES

RECOMMENDATIONS TO PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENTISTS AND PRACTITIONERS

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 20 - ALCOHOL USE AND CONSEQUENCES FOR BLACKS

BACKGROUND: A HISTORICAL CONTEXT

EPIDEMIOLOGY

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF ALCOHOL USE AND RELATED PROBLEMS

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE ISSUE

NORMS ABOUT ALCOHOL USE

SALIENT THEORY FOR YOUNG ADULTS

INTERVENING ON ALCOHOL USE AND RELATED PROBLEMS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY

THE NEXT GENERATION OF ALCOHOL INTERVENTIONS

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 21 - NUTRITION AND OBESITY ISSUES FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS

WHAT DO AFRICAN AMERICANS EAT?

OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY AMONG BLACKS IN THE UNITED STATES

MULTIPLE INFLUENCES ON DIET AND OBESITY

NUTRITION AND OBESITY INTERVENTIONS

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 22 - PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Physical Activity Challenges and Opportunities Among African Americans

Paucity of Physical Activity Research in African American Populations

Definitions of Terminology Used in Physical Activity Research and Practice

MEASURES AND MEASUREMENT CHALLENGES

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY INTERVENTION RESEARCH

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PRACTICE

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES

PART 5 - ALTERNATIVE INTERVENTIONS AND HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 23 - CHIROPRACTIC MEDICINE: INTEGRAL TO INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE

CHIROPRACTIC MEDICINE

INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE

CHRONIC ILLNESSES

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, EDUCATION, AND OUTREACH TO ETHNIC MINORITIES

POLICY ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

HIGHLIGHTS OF CURRENT ISSUES

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CLOSING THE HEALTH DISPARITY GAP

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 24 - THE ROLE OF BLACK FAITH COMMUNITIES IN FOSTERING HEALTH

HISTORY OF THE BLACK CHURCH

COPING WITH HEALTH DISPARITIES IN THE COMMUNITY

FAITH-BASED HEALTH PROMOTION POLICIES

FAITH-BASED HEALTH PROMOTION STUDIES

LESSONS LEARNED, BEST PRACTICES, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FAITH-BASED HEALTH PROMOTION

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 25 - COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY

SUMMARY OF THE NATURE OF CHWs

THE ROLE OF CHWs IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY

ISSUES UNIQUE TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY THAT CHWs ARE ADDRESSING

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

PART 6 - ETHICAL, POLITICAL, AND ECOLOGICAL ISSUES

CHAPTER 26 - USING SOCIAL MARKETING TO LESSEN HEALTH DISPARITIES

AN ECOLOGICAL MODEL OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HEALTH

SOCIAL MARKETING AS A TOOL TO ADDRESS HEALTH ISSUES

APPLICATION OF A SOCIAL MARKETING APPROACH TO HEALTH ISSUES AFFECTING THE ...

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 27 - FOSTERING A SOCIAL JUSTICE APPROACH TO HEALTH

WHAT IS SOCIAL JUSTICE?

WHAT IS HEALTH EQUITY?

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 28 - CLOSING THE GAP

THE CASE FOR CHANGE

FLAWS IN U.S. HEALTH CARE

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

CALL TO ACTION

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

AFTERWORD

INDEX

Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

p.; cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-55266-7

1. African Americans—Health and hygiene. I. Braithwaite, Ronald L.,

1945- II. Taylor, Sandra E., 1955- III. Treadwell, Henrie M.

[DNLM: 1. African Americans—United States. 2. Health Status—United States. 3. Health Promotion—United States. 4. Social Problems—United States. WA 300 AA1 H4346 2008] RA448.5.N4H.1089’ 96073--dc22

2009033972

HC Printing

Dedicated to all African Americans awaiting health justice

FOREWORD

GEORGES C. BENJAMIN

Achieving and maintaining ideal health is an intricate process. It involves access to and utilization of a range of clinical preventive and health care services, the interaction of one’s physical and genetic makeup, our individual behavior, and the social, economic, and physical environment in which we live.

Although access to care, usually in the form of insurance coverage or timely access to health services, plays an important role in achieving health, it is not the primary determinant. In fact, some say it constitutes only 10 percent of the factors that determine our health (Core Functions Project, 1993). Individual behavior plays a much larger role than access and can often explain disease prevalence when people engage in activities that put them at increased risk. Human variation is a powerful modifier of disease prevalence. Mitigating factors can change the course of disease in different individuals and make the link between risk and outcome nonlinear. We have all known people who seem to eat whatever they want without gaining a pound or who smoke but do not get lung cancer. Gene expression likely plays a role, but health is a complex phenomenon often not easily predicted, even in identical twins. Socioeconomic and environmental factors, such as psychological stress, economic distress, toxic environments, and discrimination, which are often disproportionately prevalent in a community, have profound effects on the capacity to achieve health.

Understanding the impact of these factors on inequities in disease prevalence and health outcomes is challenging and has become the focus of an emerging field of research that attempts first to document the presence of health disparities and then to explain the root causes of both poor health and health disparities. One way to approach these causes is to group them into four areas, as suggested above. First, differences in access to preventive, acute, and chronic care, which are driven by insurance status as well as by timely access to providers and other clinical services; second, differences in the quality of care received; third, individual behavioral differences that result in differences in seeking care or in approaches to being healthy; and, finally, differences in social, political, economic, or environmental exposures that result in differences in health status.

Health disparities, particularly those in the black community, have been the focus of analytic work for over one hundred years. W.E.B. Du Bois first reported on them in his 1899 publication, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study. In his text, Du Bois addressed the need to get to the root causes of these disparities, stating that “we must endeavor to eliminate, so far as possible, the problem elements which make a difference in health among people.” To date, our ineffectual efforts to eliminate these disparities have become one of the serious issues of our day and, in the view of many, a national tragedy.

Not only have we failed to eliminate most of these health inequities, but some of them, like the prevalence of HIV and diabetes and the high infant mortality rate in minority communities, have gotten worse. According to the 2000 Census, while the average American could expect to live 77.8 years, the average African American could expect to live only 73.1 years (National Center for Health Statistics, 2007). Eliminating these disparities is a goal we must strive for as a central component of achieving optimal health in our nation.

These are not theoretical concerns. The huge differences in health among various neighborhoods of our nation’s capital are prime examples of this phenomenon in action. Why is it that there is a seventeen-year difference in life expectancy for males of different races in communities only twenty-eight miles apart (Murray et al., 2006)? One clue is the fact that the socioeconomic status of these communities mirrors their health status: poor health correlates with high degrees of poverty, inadequate housing, high crime, and poor educational achievement. Clearly the answer is not the unavailability of qualified clinicians, researchers, and medical institutions: the city has three schools of medicine, numerous teaching hospitals, and some of the world’s most prominent researchers. Just up the road is the world’s top research institute, the National Institutes of Health. The city itself has invested in a large number of health services as well; yet optimal health for all the city’s citizens has been elusive. Unfortunately, Washington, D.C., is typical of our national experience.

So how do we change this picture? Certainly we need to ensure universal access to quality, affordable health care for all our citizens as a first step. But to truly be successful we will have to do much more. We need to transform our health system from its current sick-care focus to one that prevents or delays the presence of disease in the first place. We must ensure equal access to high-quality services and ensure the quality and safety of our system for everyone. Such a system must be affordable for both the individual and the nation. We need to make it easy to make healthy choices. Finally, the social determinants that significantly affect our health must be addressed for all.

The United States should work to become a healthier nation than it now is. To do so, we must make eliminating health disparities a priority. Du Bois told us this over one hundred years ago. We should work to achieve health equity, not in another hundred years, but in our lifetime.

REFERENCES

Core Functions Project. (1993). Health care reform and public health: A paper on population-based core functions. Washington, DC: Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services.

Murray, C., Kulkarni, S., Michaud, C., Tomijima, N., Bulzacchelli, M., Iandiorio, T., & Ezzati, M. (2006). Eight Americas: Investigating mortality disparities across races, counties, and race-counties in the United States. Public Library of Science, Medicine, 3, 1513-1525.

National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2007, December 28). National Vital Statistics Reports, 56(9).

PREFACE

This third edition of Health Issues in the Black Community comes eight years following the release of the second edition and, to our chagrin, presents a picture of African American health replete with many of the disparities documented in the first two editions. Following virtually two decades of studies showing stark contrasts between black and white Americans, we are still faced with a situation that portends a lowered health status and overall quality of life for the black community. The third edition not only documents this continuing gap but also calls for all relevant sectors of U.S. society to actively acknowledge the disparities and move toward viable strategies for removing them. The time has come to engage in aggressive steps and to recognize that unless a bold and systematic process is in place to close the unwavering gap, the next edition of Health Issues is likely to repeat the litany presented here.

Similar to the first edition of Health Issues and its twenty-five chapters, as well as the second edition, containing twenty-six chapters, this edition’s twenty-eight chapters provide information on an array of health-related problems affecting the African American population. It presents the impact of existing health conditions on this population and concludes that although some improvements have occurred, they are severely dwarfed by the many adverse conditions that continue to beset the black community.

The purposes of this third edition are the same as those of the previous editions: (1) to provide a forum for debate and discussion on culturally relevant strategies and models for the prevention of disease and the promotion of wellness in black communities; (2) to influence opinion leaders and provide a futuristic perspective on black health issues for students, academicians, public policymakers, and administrators in public health and related disciplines; and (3) to document selected unhealthy conditions and advance viable strategies for ameliorating them. This edition provides a multidisciplinary perspective with an emphasis on a public health approach.

CONTENTS OVERVIEW

This book contains six distinct sections that provide a more comprehensive examination of the topic than previous editions did. Part One, “Health Status Across the Life Span,” looks at the population from childhood to old age. The first chapter provides an overview of black health and sets the overall context of the problem. The second chapter gives the historical context and examines racial disparities in health care and their elimination. This section also discusses specific health problems as they relate to the groups affected: African American children, women, men, and the elderly (Chapters Three, Four, Five, and Six, respectively).

Part Two, “Social, Mental, and Environmental Challenges,” addresses health-related dynamics in five areas. Chapter Seven examines stigma and mental health. Chapter Eight reviews homicide and violence with a specific focus on black youth. Chapter Nine addresses the supply and demand of organs for transplantation with an emphasis on narrowing the gap between supply and demand. The issue of African Americans and environmental assault is addressed in Chapter Ten, and incarceration and the health of this population is covered in Chapter Eleven.

Part Three, “Chronic Diseases,” includes chapters on selected conditions that can have debilitating effects and that are often viewed as critical. Included are hypertension, cancer, diabetes, lupus, and oral health-Chapters Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, and Sixteen, respectively.

Part Four, “Lifestyle Behaviors,” concentrates on several self-defeating behaviors that adversely affect health status. Chapter Seventeen addresses an ongoing and devastating problem, substance abuse. Chapter Eighteen discusses one of the gravest issues facing the black community, HIV/AIDS, and Chapter Nineteen addresses tobacco use. Chapter Twenty examines alcohol consumption. Nutrition and obesity are discussed in Chapter Twenty-One, and physical activity is the focus of Chapter Twenty-Two.

Part Five, “Alternative Interventions and Human Resources Development,” also presents, in part, a new topic for the third edition with the inclusion of chiropractic medicine in Chapter Twenty-Three. Chapter Twenty-Four reflects on the role of black faith communities in health promotion, and Chapter Twenty-Five illuminates the role of community health workers; these two areas were addressed in previous volumes.

The final part of the book (Part Six), “Ethical, Political, and Ecological Issues,” reflects on an array of social factors that infringe on health and presents a discussion as to how they can be reversed. They discuss the impact on health of social marketing and the media (Chapter Twenty-Six) and of racism (Chapter Twenty-Seven). Chapter Twenty-Eight describes disparities in health care and suggests how they can be erased.

All chapters are contributions of individual authors and are not intended to constitute a fully integrated work. They are consistent with the editors’ intent to provide a reference for the areas addressed. In addition, each chapter presents the views of its particular author(s) and in no way should be construed as representing a consensus of opinion among the contributors or the position of any affiliated organization or agency.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The third edition of Health Issues in the Black Community is the result of many dedicated persons’ believing in the single mission of uplifting the health status of African Americans. We especially thank our contributing authors, who worked assiduously on the submission and revision of drafts. Recommendations from colleagues facilitated completion of this project and we remain grateful to them as well.

We are particularly indebted to Keisha Harville, who served as coordinating assistant for this effort. The research support of Aba Essuon and Melva Robertson was vital to the completion of this work. Finally, we would like to thank Andy Pasternack and Seth Schwartz from Jossey-Bass and the consummate professionalism of the publisher for all aspects of support.

October 2009, Atlanta, GA Ronald L. Braithwaite Sandra E. Taylor Henrie M. Treadwell

EDITOR BIOGRAPHIES

Ronald L. Braithwaite, PhD, is currently professor in the Community Health and Preventive Medicine Department and professor and director of research in family medicine in the Psychiatry and Family Medicine Department at Morehouse School of Medicine. He received his BA and MS degrees from Southern Illinois University in sociology and rehabilitation counseling and a PhD in educational psychology from Michigan State University. He has done postdoctoral studies at Howard University, Yale University, and the University of Michigan School of Public Health and Institute for Social Research. He has held faculty appointments at Virginia Commonwealth University, Hampton University, Howard University, Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, and the School of Public Health at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

His research involves HIV-intervention studies with juveniles and adults in correctional systems, social determinants of health, health disparities, and community capacity building. He also was a senior justice fellow for the Center for the Study of Crime, Culture, and Communities. Dr. Braithwaite currently serves on the National Institute on Drug Abuse—African American Scholars and Research Group. His research also spans the globe to Africa, where he has conducted HIV-prevention projects in Ghana, Kenya, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Gambia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, and South Africa.

Sandra E. Taylor, PhD, is a professor and chair in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Clark Atlanta University. Previously, she headed the W.E.B. DuBois Department of Sociology at ClarkAtlanta, where she also served as director of the HIV/AIDS program, a former affiliate site of the Southeastern AIDS Training and Education Center of Emory University’s School of Medicine. She has held research appointments with the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. Dr. Taylor currently serves as a W.E.B. DuBois Faculty Fellow at Clark Atlanta.

Dr. Taylor has published extensively in the areas of health and illness as well as in aging, race, and gender, including authorship or coauthorship of more than fifty articles and monographs. Among the many journals containing her work are the Journal of the National Medical Association, Patient Education and Counseling, the Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, the Journal of Minority Aging, the Journal of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the Western Journal of Black Studies, the Journal of Black Psychology, and National Social Science Perspectives.

She received her PhD in sociology from Washington University and has done postdoctoral studies in social research and HIV/AIDS at the University of Michigan. She completed her BA in sociology at Norfolk State University and her MA in the same discipline at Atlanta University. She also completed a predoctoral research program in science education at Purdue University.

Henrie M. Treadwell, PhD, is director and senior social scientist for Community Voices, a special policy initiative funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. She is also a full-time research professor in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine. Her work includes the formulation of health and social policy and the oversight of programs designed to address health disparities, the social determinants of health, and reentry into the community by those engaged with the criminal justice system. She is the founder of the Freedom’s Voice Symposium and the Soledad O’ Brien Freedom’s Voice Award, which recognizes mid-career individuals doing significant work to improve global society.

Prior to coming to the National Center for Primary Care, where she is professor in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine and director, Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved and the Men’s Health Initiative, Dr. Treadwell served for seventeen years as program director in health at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in biology, University of South Carolina; a master’s degree in biology, Boston University; a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology, Atlanta University; and postdoctoral work, Harvard University School of Public Health. Dr. Treadwell is a member of the editorial board and section editor for the International Journal of Men’s Health and Gender and is a member of the editorial board of the American Journal of Men’s Health; she is a past editorial board member of the American Journal of Public Health.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

Jamy D. Ard, MD, is an assistant professor of nutrition sciences and medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His current research interests include behavioral therapies that are focused on cardiovascular risk reduction with a special interest in the African American population and in developing strategies for behavior modification that are culturally appropriate. Dr. Ard received his BS in biology at Morehouse College and his MD at Duke University Medical Center.

Kimberly Jacob Arriola, PhD, MPH, received her MA and PhD in social psychology from Northeastern University and her MPH in epidemiology from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. With federal funding, she has overseen the development of a culturally sensitive intervention to promote organ and tissue donation among African Americans. Her other primary area of research is improving HIV testing and links to care in correctional settings. She is an associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education in the Rollins School of Public Health. She has published both qualitative and quantitative findings from her research.

Mona AuYoung, MPH, MS, ATC, is currently a PhD student in the Department of Health Services at the UCLA School of Public Health. She received her MPH in community health sciences from UCLA, her MS in kinesiology from California State University, Hayward, and her BA in integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, her research focuses on obesity and diabetes prevention, health disparities among ethnic minorities, and public health partnerships with sports philanthropies. She is also a Certified Athletic Trainer who has worked with national, college, and high school sports teams.

Monica L. Baskin, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health (primary appointment) and the Department of Nutrition Sciences in the UAB School of Health Professions (secondary appointment). She is also an associate scientist for the UAB Clinical Nutrition Research Center and the UAB Minority Health and Research Center, a scientist in the UAB Diabetes Research and Training Center, and a member of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Baskin received her BA in psychology and sociology from Emory University, and her MS in community counseling and PhD in counseling psychology from Georgia State University. She is a licensed psychologist with extensive training in pediatric psychology. Dr. Baskin’s research focuses on behavioral interventions for the prevention and treatment of obesity and cancer, particularly among African Americans. Much of her work links academic partners to community- and faith-based networks.

Rhonda BeLue, PhD, is an assistant professor of health policy and administration and an affiliate of the Center for Family Research in Diverse Contexts and of the Methodology Center at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. BeLue has over ten years of research experience on chronic mental and physical health problems of minority families. Dr. BeLue’s research is at the intersection of research and evaluation methodology and community and minority health. She applies systems science and group-based methods to understand the interrelations among community, family, and individual factors in relation to health outcomes in black families. She has served as the principal investigator on a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded project designed to understand the role of health care settings on quality outcomes among minority populations. She is currently funded to conduct research on academic-community partnerships as related to health outcomes in minority communities. Prior to her appointment at Penn State, she was a front line public health worker specializing in community-based participatory research and the evaluation of community-based public health programs.