Salud: A Latina's Guide to Total Health [Paperback]

Jane L. Delgado (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2002

Featuring NEW resource lists of relevant books and NEW hotlines and organizations that help keep Latinas informed and healthy, this revised edition of Salud, compiled by a leading women's health care advocate and with authoritative guidance from the National Hispanic Women's Health Initiative, addresses with great sensitivity the special concerns of Latinas -- physiological, cultural, and spiritual. This essential resource discusses:

How to become a smarter health care consumer

How religious and spiritual traditions affect the way Latinas view their health

Prevention and treatment of the diseases that most commonly affect Latinas, such as diabetes, cervical cancer, and depression

Sexuality and reproductive health, from a Latina perspective

The essential roles of diet and lifestyle in preventing health problems

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Latinas often feel left out of the healthcare system. They are more likely to have diabetes, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, and depression than non-Latinas and less likely to have health insurance. Delgado, a clinical psychologist who is the head of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and the National Hispanic Women's Health Initiative, has revised her 1997 work, -Salud!: A Latina's Guide to Total Health-Body, Mind, and Spirit. Unlike most women's health books, including the politically empowering Our Bodies, Ourselves for the New Century (Touchstone, 1998), this one is written by Hispanic women, for Hispanic women. It provides the latest scientific and medical information about sexuality, pregnancy, contraception, menopause, and sexually transmitted diseases, as well as advice about nutrition, fitness, and mental health. It also covers alcoholism, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, and liver disease. Each chapter has a list of current resources, including organizations, books, pamphlets, and web sites. Personal histories are interspersed with the information, giving the book a more intimate tone. The author honors Hispanic culture throughout by stressing the importance of spirituality, alternative therapies, and family relationships in daily life. Easy to understand and full of useful information, -Salud! is highly recommended for all collections. Barbara M. Bibel, Oakland P.L.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Jane L. Delgado. Phd., Además de ser defensora del cuidado de la salud y psicóloga clíinica, es la presidenta y directora ejecutiva de la Coalicín Nacional de Organizaciones de Hispanas de la Salud y Servicios Humanos (COSSMHO). Ella vive en Washington, D.C.

Jane Delgado, Ph.D., is a health care advocate, clinical psychologist, and the president and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Rayo; Revised edition (January 22, 2002)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 0060006218
• ISBN-13: 978-0060006211
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,727,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Libros en español > Medicina > Profesiones Médicas Asociadas

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Latina Health, December 12, 2004

By 

Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Salud: A Latina's Guide to Total Health (Paperback)

The author lists many reasons for this necessity of this book. Until recently, few statistics were collected about Latino health concerns. When concerns were listed for women, they were based on white women. When concerns are listed for minority women, they are usually based upon African-American women. Further, Delgado noted that many Latinas are unfamiliar with the Anglo-American health care system, partially due to its cost. So many Latinas gather health knowledge by word of mouth. She wants this book to be a user-friendly resource.

The book is divided into many timely topics, such as diet, diabetes, depression, and HIV/AIDS. She usually starts chapters with anecdotes from Latinas and ends them with a list of resources and national organizations or helplines. Delgado promotes a holistic approach in which concerns of the mind and heart are mixed in with concerns that are usually proscribed as just related to the body. She emphasizes health problems which disproportionately affect Latinas. While she compares Latinas to women of other races, I didn't see a single statistic that compared them to LatinO men. Hopefully, a LatinO expert will produce a male equivalent to this book.

I am somewhat surprised that a Ph.D. wrote this, rather than an M.D. I am almost sure the book would have been different if written by a different expert. The pages are made of cheap brown paper which I am sure was done to make the text affordable; it's a lengthy book. Spanish phrases are thrown around, but this is a substantially English text, not a bilingual one. However, a Spanish translation is available.

I think this book would be a great resource for Latinas with children. It's user-friendly which some readers may feel is dumbed-down. However, hopefully most readers will find this a useful text when they want to get some easy information about pressing health problems affecting a sizeable and growing part of the American population. Doctors and librarians in predominantly Latino neighborhoods should make sure they have this book available for their patients and patrons, respectively.