Finalist, 2020 PROSE Award in the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology category, given by the Association of American Publishers
A troubling study of the role that medical racism plays in the ...lives of black women who have given birth to premature and low birth weight infants
Black women have higher rates of premature birth than other women in America. This cannot be simply explained by economic factors, with poorer women lacking resources or access to care. Even professional, middle-class black women are at a much higher risk of premature birth than low-income white women in the United States. Dána-Ain Davis looks into this phenomenon, placing racial differences in birth outcomes into a historical context, revealing that ideas about reproduction and race today have been influenced by the legacy of ideas which developed during the era of slavery.
While poor and low-income black women are often the “mascots” of premature birth outcomes, this book focuses on professional black women, who are just as likely to give birth prematurely. Drawing on an impressive array of interviews with nearly fifty mothers, fathers, neonatologists, nurses, midwives, and reproductive justice advocates, Dána-Ain Davis argues that events leading up to an infant’s arrival in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and the parents’ experiences while they are in the NICU, reveal subtle but pernicious forms of racism that confound the perceived class dynamics that are frequently understood to be a central factor of premature birth.
The book argues not only that medical racism persists and must be considered when examining adverse outcomes—as well as upsetting experiences for parents—but also that NICUs and life-saving technologies should not be the only strategies for improving the outcomes for black pregnant women and their babies. Davis makes the case for other avenues, such as community-based birthing projects, doulas, and midwives, that support women during pregnancy and labor are just as important and effective in avoiding premature births and mortality.
Monitoring health inequality is a practice that fosters accountability and continuous improvement within health systems. The cycle of health inequality monitoring helps to identify and track health ...differences between subgroups providing evidence and feedback to strengthen equity-oriented policies programmes and practices. Through inequality monitoring and the use of disaggregated data countries gain insight into how health is distributed in the population looking beyond what is indicated by national averages. Data about health inequalities underlie health interventions that aim to reach vulnerable populations. Furthermore they constitute an evidence base to inform and promote equity-oriented health initiatives including the movement towards equitable universal health coverage. _x000D__x000D_ _x000D__x000D_ This Handbook is a user-friendly resource developed to help countries establish and strengthen health inequality monitoring practices. The handbook elaborates on the steps of health inequality monitoring including selecting relevant health indicators and equity stratifiers obtaining data analysing data reporting results and implementing changes. Throughout the handbook examples from low- and middle-income countries are presented to illustrate how concepts are relevant and applied in real-world situations; informative text boxes provide the context to better understand the complexities of the subject. The final section of the handbook presents an expanded example of national-level health inequality monitoring of reproductive maternal and child health. _x000D__x000D_.
Millions of low-income African Americans in the United States lack access to health care. How do they treat their health care problems? In Health Care Off the Books, Danielle T. Raudenbush provides ...an answer that challenges public perceptions and prior scholarly work. Informed by three and a half years of fieldwork in a public housing development, Raudenbush shows how residents who face obstacles to health care gain access to pharmaceutical drugs, medical equipment, physician reference manuals, and insurance cards by mobilizing social networks that include not only their neighbors but also local physicians. However, membership in these social networks is not universal, and some residents are forced to turn to a robust street market to obtain medicine. For others, health problems simply go untreated. Raudenbush reconceptualizes U.S. health care as a formal-informal hybrid system and explains why many residents who do have access to health services also turn to informal strategies to treat their health problems. While the practices described in the book may at times be beneficial to people's health, they also have the potential to do serious harm. By understanding this hybrid system, we can evaluate its effects and gain new insight into the sources of social and racial disparities in health outcomes.
Die Beiträge in diesem Open-Access-Sammelband beschreiben und analysieren aus multidisziplinärer Sicht die Herausforderungen und Bewältigungsstrategien von Alterung und Pflege in japanischen und ...deutschen Gemeinden. Thematisiert werden rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen, zivilgesellschaftliches Engagement, Pflegekräftemangel, Technologiekonzepte für die Pflege und schließlich auch der Einfluss der Covid-19 Pandemie auf die Situation älterer und pflegebedürftiger Bürgerinnen und Bürger. Die Gegenüberstellung der Ansätze und Erfahrungen beider Länder erweitert das Spektrum an Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten und kann Impulse für eine Neuausrichtung bestehender Lösungsstrategien geben.
This book places significant issues related to the health, mental health, and well-being of older adults and their caregivers within the context of social work service delivery. By presenting the ...research of social work scholars, all experts in specific research areas, the editors clarify the value that social work brings to the larger realm of health care for older adults and their families. Special consideration is given to such issues as case management, urban, African-American elders, grandmothers raising grandchildren, aging persons with developmental disabilities, home health care, and more. For Further Information on Dr. Berkman, Please <a href=http://gswi.org/programs_services/barbara_berkman.html>Click Here!
Measuring the Performance of the Hollow Stateis the first in-depth look at the influence of performance measurement on the effectiveness of the federal government. To do this, the authors examine the ...influence of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (with consideration of the later Program Assessment Rating Tool of 2002) on federal performance measurement, agency performance, and program outcomes. They focus a systematic examination on five agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Indian Health Service. Besides representing a wide range of federal government organizational structures and program formats, these agencies offer a diverse array of third-party arrangements including states, native American tribes, scientists, medical schools, and commercial and nonprofit health care intermediaries and carriers. Exploring the development of performance measures in light of widely varying program mandates, the authors look at issues that affect the quality of this measurement and particularly the influence of program performance by third parties. They consider factors such as goal conflict and ambiguity, politics, and the critical role of intergovernmental relations in federal program performance and performance measurement. Through their findings, they offer illumination to two major questions in public management today-what are the uses and limitations of performance measurement as a policy and management tool and how does performance measurement work when applied to the management of third-party government? While scholars and students in public administration and governmental reform will find this book of particular interest, it will also be of use to anyone working in the public sector who would like to have a better understanding of performance measurement.
The tales that bind Randall, William Lowell; Clews, Rosemary; Furlong, Dolores
The tales that bind,
2015, 2015, 2015-02-03, 2015-02-05
eBook
The Tales that Bind presents a narrative approach to facing the challenges of working as a practitioner in social work, education, medicine, or the church in small towns, remote hamlets, and other ...rural settings.
In Bahia, Brazil, the decades following emancipation saw the rise of reformers who sought to reshape the citizenry by educating Bahian women in methods for raising "better babies." The idealized ...Brazilian would be better equipped to contribute to the labor and organizational needs of a modern nation. Backed by many physicians, politicians, and intellectuals, the resulting welfare programs for mothers and children mirrored complex debates about Brazilian nationality. Examining the local and national contours of this movement, Progressive Mothers, Better Babies investigates families, medical institutions, state-building, and social stratification to trace the resulting policies, which gathered momentum in the aftermath of abolition (1888) and the declaration of the First Republic (1889), culminating during the administration of President Getúlio Vargas (1930–1945). Exploring the cultural discourses on race, gender, and poverty that permeated medical knowledge and the public health system for almost a century, Okezi T. Otovo draws on extensive archival research to reconstruct the implications for Bahia, where family patronage politics governed poor women's labor as the mothers who were the focus of medical interventions were often the nannies and nursemaids of society's wealthier families. The book reveals key transition points as the state of Bahia transformed from being a place where poor families could expect few social services to becoming the home of numerous programs targeting the poorest mothers and their children. Negotiating crucial questions of identity, this history sheds new light on larger debates about Brazil's past and future.
Objectives
To describe reasons for unmet need for mental health care among blacks, identify factors associated with causes of unmet need, examine racism as a context of unmet need, and construct ways ...to improve service use.
Data Sources
Data from the 2011‐2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health were pooled to create an analytic sample of black adults with unmet mental health need (N = 1237). Qualitative data came from focus groups (N = 30) recruited through purposive sampling.
Study Design
Using sequential mixed methods, reasons for unmet need were regressed on sociodemographic, economic, and health characteristics of respondents. Findings were further explored in focus groups.
Principal Findings
Higher education was associated with greater odds of reporting stigma and minimization of symptoms as reasons for unmet need. The fear of discrimination based on race and on mental illness was exacerbated among college‐educated blacks. Racism causes mistrust in mental health service systems. Participants expressed the importance of anti‐racism education and community‐driven practice in reducing unmet need.
Conclusion
Mental health systems should confront racism and engage the historical and contemporary racial contexts within which black people experience mental health problems. Critical self‐reflection at the individual level and racial equity analysis at the organizational level are critical.
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