Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the U.S. [Hardcover]

Thomas LaVeist (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0787964131 | ISBN-13: 978-0787964139 | Publication Date: April 11, 2005 | Edition: 1

"The text is state-of-the-art in its analysis of health disparities from both domestic and international perspectives. Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the United States is a welcome addition to the field because it widens access to the complex issues underlying the health disparities problem. "-- Preventing Chronic Disease/CDC, October 2005

"This is a very comprehensive, evidence-based book dealing with the health disparities that plague the United States. This is a welcome and valuable addition to the field of health care for minority groups in the United States."-- Doody's Publishers Bulletin, August 2005

"Health isn’t color-blind. Racial minorities disproportionately suffer from some diseases, but experts say race alone doesn’t completely account for the disparities. Newsweek's Jennifer Barrett Ozols spoke with Thomas LaVeist, director of the Center for Health Disparities Solutions at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and author of the upcoming book, "Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the U.S." (Jossey-Bass) about race and medicine. "-- MSNBC/Newsweek interview with author Thomas L. LaVeist, February 2005

"The book is readable and organized to be quickly read with specifics readily retrievable. It is comprehensive and visual."-- Journal of the American Medical Association, September 2005

Minority Populations and Health is a textbook that offers a complete foundation in the core issues and theoretical frameworks for the development of policy and interventions to address race disparities in health-related outcomes. This book covers U.S. health and social policy, the role of race and ethnicity in health research, social factors contributing to mortality, longevity and life expectancy, quantitative and demographic analysis and access, and utilization of health services. Instructors material available at http://www.minorityhealth.com

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book is readable and organized to be quickly read with specifics readily retrievable." (JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association), September 14, 2005)

Review

"Dr. LaVeist has written a valuable textbook on one of the most important yet least understood public health issues of our day: racial and ethnic health disparities in the United States. Dr. LaVeist's book is a must-read for anyone concerned about public health and social justice in the United States."
—Harold W. Neighbors, Ph.D., professor, health behavior and health education, director, Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health, and associate director, Program for Research on Black Americans, University of Michigan School of Public Health

"This introductory text offers a well-written overview of the epidemiology and etiology of health disparities in American ethnic and racial minority populations."
—Martha N. Hill, Ph.D., R.N., dean and professor, The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing

"Minority Populations and Health provides a thorough overview of racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care in the United States and thoughtfully highlights some of the key issues and tensions surrounding this important American health crisis."
—Joseph R. Betancourt, M.D., M.P.H., senior scientist, Partners-Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Health Policy, director of multicultural education, Massachusetts General Hospital, and assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (April 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787964131
• ISBN-13: 978-0787964139
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Medical Books > Nursing > Home & Community Health
  • #82 in Books > Medical Books > Administration & Medicine Economics > Public Health

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written and informative, September 23, 2009

By 

David Migl (College Station, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the U.S. (Hardcover)

I used this book for a race & minority health class. It is very well written and does a good job at synthesizing information about this subject. I will agree with a previous reviewer that there is plenty of theory and explanations in addition to charts and statistics. The only negative thing is that sometimes there are lots of theories to explain a phenomenon (for example, lower minority mortality rates among the elderly) with more research needing to be done to determine which explanation is correct.

There was a good balance between facts and explanations, and the book was very readable and understandable. It did a great job emphasizing the changing demographics of the United States and the need to focus on the issue of minority health.

I am a biomedical engineering major, so the work is not directly pertinent to my field, but I still enjoyed reading it and thinking about the ideas it contains, even a year after I finished my class.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource, September 20, 2007

By 

Alex Ramos - See all my reviews

This review is from: Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the U.S. (Hardcover)

This is the first textbook written for a very important topic, health disparities and minority health. The other books are edited with different authors of each chapter. This book was written by one author. It was written for use in classes. It outlines and describes the state of the topic, which explains the tables and charts that the "C. Bullman" review talked about. However, there is MUCH more than just charts and tables in this book. The book talks about causes of health disparities and describes all of the various theories and research. Also, it includes chapters on all minority groups, including Native Americans and Pacific Islanders, two groups that are usually left out. I agree with the book review from JAMA. I think this an excellent book for use in classes.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Worst textboox I've bought, April 23, 2011

By 

David R. Massey (College Station, TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the U.S. (Hardcover)

I bought this text for an online class over minority health. Nearly all of the information for the class came from the book, so I read it cover to cover. I am a senior, so I have gone through many textbooks during my studies. This is the first textbook I am selling, for I do not think it is worth taking up space on my bookshelves.

The first chapter describes the need for writing this textbook. LaVeist mentions that before this book minority health disparities was taught by reading individual studies. After reading this book I wish it was still taught that way.

The majority of this book is definitions directly quoted from their source and half-page charts whose data is restated in the text. When the author defines a word, he often chooses to present multiple definitions to the same word to illustrate the idea that there is no consensus definition; the first time he does this makes the point; all other times is just filler to make the text more than a 50-page report. The data presented in the charts often conflicts with the data presented in the body of the text; beware if this is your main source of information for a class, for you will not know which is correct. There are also contradictions from paragraph to paragraph and chapter to chapter in the second half of the book, but if you read it carefully you can figure out which is most likely correct.

Several of the studies in the text cite LaVeist as the source. You can look at this one of two ways: any credible textbook author will not use their own research as primary sources in their book, or the author actually does research in the topic of minority health and therefore is better suited to write a textbook. I'll let you decide which you believe, but I personally believe the former.

As another reviewer pointed out, this topic is constantly changing, so once the book hits the stores it is outdated. This is why it is better to learn from the actual studies rather than an outdated textbook. To help counter this reality, the author presents historical data as well as more recent data. Because of this, I rated it two stars instead of one, for I actually did learn some history.

Overall, if this book is supposed to supplement information learned in a class taught by a professor, it might be worthwhile to pick it up. If you are purchasing this text as your main source of information for a class, drop the class if at all possible, or you will be frustrated and gain little knowledge.