Alcoholism in the United States: Racial and Ethnic Considerations incorporates data about alcohol abuse in four United States minority populations: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans (American Indians and Alaska Natives). The contributors, all well-established cultural psychiatrists, present information in an integrative, clear fashion that both experts and interested laypersons will find engaging. This report discusses similarities and differences between each group, identifies the need for further research to help clarify variations between groups, and outlines the policy implications for treatment and prevention of alcoholism. Each chapter includes a brief description of one population, followed by a review of the available literature on prevalence of alcoholism; frequent heavy drinking; peak risks for alcoholism by age group; abstinence; alcohol-related morbidity and mortality; income; and urban migration, immigration, and acculturation in relation to alcohol use.
Francis G. Lu, M.D., is the Luke & Grace Kim Endowed Professor in Cultural Psychiatry, Director of Cultural Psychiatry, and Associate Chair for Medical Student Education in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis. He is also Assistant Dean for Faculty Diversity for the School of Medicine. Born in 1949 from immigrant Chinese parents, he has devoted his career to cultural psychiatry and psychiatric education, cultural competence and diversity, the interface of religion/spirituality and psychiatry, and the transpersonal as seen in film. He has either co-authored, co-edited, or contributed to the books listed. His Google profile is: www.google.com/profiles/francislumd.
Previously, he was Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Director of the Cultural Competence and Diversity Program, Department of Psychiatry at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH), where he had worked from July 1977 to June 2009.
Dr. Lu has participated on expert panels and advisory committees on diversity, cultural competence, and mental health disparities sponsored by the Office of the Surgeon General, HHS Office of Minority Health, HRSA, SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services, the California Endowment, the Templeton Foundation, the American Psychiatric Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the California State Department of Mental Health, and the University of California.
