Handbook of Minority Aging

Handbook of Minority Aging PDF Author: Keith E. Whitfield, PhD
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
ISBN: 0826109640
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 589

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Book Description
"The array of topics covered is amazing, making this book a valuable, significant resource for many disciplines...This multidisciplinary review of the literature on minority aging presents the scholarship related to public health and 'social, behavioral, and biological concerns' of aged minorities like no other publication. Graduate students will certainly be well-served by this book, as would faculty teaching aging at both undergraduate and graduate levels...Highly recommended."--Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries "...while practitioners of gerontology, family medicine, and any professional involved in the care of the elderly will find some practical guidance in the second part of the book, it will really earn a place on the bookshelf of anyone and everyone with an interest in US sociology and the development of public policy for the elderly. With the general aging of the population and the book’s accentuation of current issues, this outstanding review will become an indispensable tool."Healthy Aging Research This text provides up-to-date, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive information about aging among diverse racial and ethnic populations in the United States. It is the only book to focus on paramount public health issues as they relate to older minority Americans, and addresses social, behavioral, and biological concerns for this population. The text distills the most important advances in the science of minority aging and incorporates the evidence of scholars in gerontology, anthropology, psychology, public health, sociology, social work, biology, medicine, and nursing. Additionally, the book incorporates the work of both established and emerging scholars to provide the broadest possible knowledge base on the needs of and concerns for this rapidly growing population. Chapters focus on subject areas that are recognized as being critical in understanding the well being of minority elders. These include sociology (Medicare, SES, work and retirement, social networks, context/neighborhood, ethnography, gender, demographics), psychology (cognition, stress, mental health, personality, sexuality, religion, neuroscience, discrimination), medicine/nursing/public health (mortality and morbidity, disability, health disparities, long-term care, genetics, dietary issues, health interventions, physical functioning), social work (caregiving, housing, social services, end-of-life care), and many other topics. The book focuses on the needs of four major ethnic groups: Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, African American, and Native American. Key Features: Provides current, comprehensive information about minority aging through a multidisciplinary lens Integrates information from scholars in gerontology, anthropology, psychology, public health, sociology, social work, biology, medicine, and nursing Emphasizes the principal public health issues concerning minority elders Offers “one-stop shopping” regarding the development of a substantial knowledge base about minority aging Includes recent progressive research pertaining to the social, cultural, psychological and health needs of elderly minority adults in the US

Handbook of Minority Aging

Handbook of Minority Aging PDF Author: Keith E. Whitfield, PhD
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
ISBN: 0826109640
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 589

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The array of topics covered is amazing, making this book a valuable, significant resource for many disciplines...This multidisciplinary review of the literature on minority aging presents the scholarship related to public health and 'social, behavioral, and biological concerns' of aged minorities like no other publication. Graduate students will certainly be well-served by this book, as would faculty teaching aging at both undergraduate and graduate levels...Highly recommended."--Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries "...while practitioners of gerontology, family medicine, and any professional involved in the care of the elderly will find some practical guidance in the second part of the book, it will really earn a place on the bookshelf of anyone and everyone with an interest in US sociology and the development of public policy for the elderly. With the general aging of the population and the book’s accentuation of current issues, this outstanding review will become an indispensable tool."Healthy Aging Research This text provides up-to-date, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive information about aging among diverse racial and ethnic populations in the United States. It is the only book to focus on paramount public health issues as they relate to older minority Americans, and addresses social, behavioral, and biological concerns for this population. The text distills the most important advances in the science of minority aging and incorporates the evidence of scholars in gerontology, anthropology, psychology, public health, sociology, social work, biology, medicine, and nursing. Additionally, the book incorporates the work of both established and emerging scholars to provide the broadest possible knowledge base on the needs of and concerns for this rapidly growing population. Chapters focus on subject areas that are recognized as being critical in understanding the well being of minority elders. These include sociology (Medicare, SES, work and retirement, social networks, context/neighborhood, ethnography, gender, demographics), psychology (cognition, stress, mental health, personality, sexuality, religion, neuroscience, discrimination), medicine/nursing/public health (mortality and morbidity, disability, health disparities, long-term care, genetics, dietary issues, health interventions, physical functioning), social work (caregiving, housing, social services, end-of-life care), and many other topics. The book focuses on the needs of four major ethnic groups: Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, African American, and Native American. Key Features: Provides current, comprehensive information about minority aging through a multidisciplinary lens Integrates information from scholars in gerontology, anthropology, psychology, public health, sociology, social work, biology, medicine, and nursing Emphasizes the principal public health issues concerning minority elders Offers “one-stop shopping” regarding the development of a substantial knowledge base about minority aging Includes recent progressive research pertaining to the social, cultural, psychological and health needs of elderly minority adults in the US

Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life

Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309092116
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 753

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Book Description
In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Health of Older Americans

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Health of Older Americans PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309175569
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Older Americans, even the oldest, can now expect to live years longer than those who reached the same ages even a few decades ago. Although survival has improved for all racial and ethnic groups, strong differences persist, both in life expectancy and in the causes of disability and death at older ages. This book examines trends in mortality rates and selected causes of disability (cardiovascular disease, dementia) for older people of different racial and ethnic groups. The determinants of these trends and differences are also investigated, including differences in access to health care and experiences in early life, diet, health behaviors, genetic background, social class, wealth and income. Groups often neglected in analyses of national data, such as the elderly Hispanic and Asian Americans of different origin and immigrant generations, are compared. The volume provides understanding of research bearing on the health status and survival of the fastest-growing segment of the American population.

Understanding Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life

Understanding Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309165865
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
As the population of older Americans grows, it is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. Differences in health by racial and ethnic status could be increasingly consequential for health policy and programs. Such differences are not simply a matter of education or ability to pay for health care. For instance, Asian Americans and Hispanics appear to be in better health, on a number of indicators, than White Americans, despite, on average, lower socioeconomic status. The reasons are complex, including possible roles for such factors as selective migration, risk behaviors, exposure to various stressors, patient attitudes, and geographic variation in health care. This volume, produced by a multidisciplinary panel, considers such possible explanations for racial and ethnic health differentials within an integrated framework. It provides a concise summary of available research and lays out a research agenda to address the many uncertainties in current knowledge. It recommends, for instance, looking at health differentials across the life course and deciphering the links between factors presumably producing differentials and biopsychosocial mechanisms that lead to impaired health.

Communities in Action

Communities in Action PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309452961
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 583

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Book Description
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Future Directions for the Demography of Aging

Future Directions for the Demography of Aging PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309474108
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
Almost 25 years have passed since the Demography of Aging (1994) was published by the National Research Council. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging is, in many ways, the successor to that original volume. The Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to produce an authoritative guide to new directions in demography of aging. The papers published in this report were originally presented and discussed at a public workshop held in Washington, D.C., August 17-18, 2017. The workshop discussion made evident that major new advances had been made in the last two decades, but also that new trends and research directions have emerged that call for innovative conceptual, design, and measurement approaches. The report reviews these recent trends and also discusses future directions for research on a range of topics that are central to current research in the demography of aging. Looking back over the past two decades of demography of aging research shows remarkable advances in our understanding of the health and well-being of the older population. Equally exciting is that this report sets the stage for the next two decades of innovative researchâ€"a period of rapid growth in the older American population.

From Here to Equality, Second Edition

From Here to Equality, Second Edition PDF Author: William A. Darity Jr.
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469671212
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 443

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Book Description
Racism and discrimination have choked economic opportunity for African Americans at nearly every turn. At several historic moments, the trajectory of racial inequality could have been altered dramatically. But neither Reconstruction nor the New Deal nor the civil rights struggle led to an economically just and fair nation. Today, systematic inequality persists in the form of housing discrimination, unequal education, police brutality, mass incarceration, employment discrimination, and massive wealth and opportunity gaps. Economic data indicates that for every dollar the average white household holds in wealth the average black household possesses a mere ten cents. This compelling and sharply argued book addresses economic injustices head-on and make the most comprehensive case to date for economic reparations for U.S. descendants of slavery. Using innovative methods that link monetary values to historical wrongs, William Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen assess the literal and figurative costs of justice denied in the 155 years since the end of the Civil War and offer a detailed roadmap for an effective reparations program, including a substantial payment to each documented U.S. black descendant of slavery. This new edition features a new foreword addressing the latest developments on the local, state, and federal level and considering current prospects for a comprehensive reparations program.

Retooling for an Aging America

Retooling for an Aging America PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309131952
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
As the first of the nation's 78 million baby boomers begin reaching age 65 in 2011, they will face a health care workforce that is too small and woefully unprepared to meet their specific health needs. Retooling for an Aging America calls for bold initiatives starting immediately to train all health care providers in the basics of geriatric care and to prepare family members and other informal caregivers, who currently receive little or no training in how to tend to their aging loved ones. The book also recommends that Medicare, Medicaid, and other health plans pay higher rates to boost recruitment and retention of geriatric specialists and care aides. Educators and health professional groups can use Retooling for an Aging America to institute or increase formal education and training in geriatrics. Consumer groups can use the book to advocate for improving the care for older adults. Health care professional and occupational groups can use it to improve the quality of health care jobs.

The Science of Health Disparities Research

The Science of Health Disparities Research PDF Author: Irene Dankwa-Mullan
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119374812
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 548

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Book Description
Integrates the various disciplines of the science of health disparities in one comprehensive volume The Science of Health Disparities Research is an indispensable source of up-to-date information on clinical and translational health disparities science. Building upon the advances in health disparities research over the past decade, this authoritative volume informs policies and practices addressing the diseases, disorders, and gaps in health outcomes that are more prevalent in minority populations and socially disadvantaged communities. Contributions by recognized scholars and leaders in the field—featuring contemporary research, conceptual models, and a broad range of scientific perspectives—provide an interdisciplinary approach to reducing inequalities in population health, encouraging community engagement in the research process, and promoting social justice. In-depth chapters help readers better understand the specifics of minority health and health disparities while demonstrating the importance of advancing theory, refining measurement, improving investigative methods, and diversifying scientific research. In 26 chapters, the book examines topics including the etiology of health disparities research, the determinants of population health, research ethics, and research in African American, Asians, Latino, American Indian, and other vulnerable populations. Providing a unified framework on the principles and applications of the science of health disparities research, this important volume: Defines the field of health disparities science and suggests new directions in scholarship and research Explains basic definitions, principles, and concepts for identifying, understanding and addressing health disparities Provides guidance on both conducting health disparities research and translating the results Examines how social, historical and contemporary injustices may influence the health of racial and ethnic minorities Illustrates the increasing national and global importance of addressing health disparities Discusses population health training, capacity-building, and the transdisciplinary tools needed to advance health equity A significant contribution to the field, The Science of Health Disparities Research is an essential resource for students and basic and clinical researchers in genetics, population genetics, and public health, health care policymakers, and epidemiologists, medical students, and clinicians, particularly those working with minority, vulnerable, or underserved populations.

Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health

Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health PDF Author: Sana Loue
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387337539
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 852

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Book Description
Americans are living longer, and the elder population is growing larger. To meet the ongoing need for quality information on elder health, the Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health combines multiple perspectives to offer readers a more accurate and complete picture of the aging process. The book takes a biopsychosocial approach to the complexities of its subject. In-depth introductory chapters include coverage on a historical and demographic overview of aging in America, a guide to biological changes accompanying aging, an analysis of the diversity of the U.S. elder population, legal issues commonly affecting older adults, and the ethics of using cognitively impaired elders in research. From there, over 425 entries cover the gamut of topics, trends, diseases, and phenomena: -Specific populations, including ethnic minorities, custodial grandparents, and centenarians -Core medical conditions associated with aging, from cardiac and pulmonary diseases to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s -Mental and emotional disorders -Drugs/vitamins/alternative medicine -Disorders of the eyes, feet, and skin -Insomnia and sleep disorders; malnutrition and eating disorders -Sexual and gender-related concerns -And a broad array of social and political issues, including access to care, abuse/neglect, veterans’ affairs, and assisted suicide Entries on not-quite-elders’ concerns (e.g., midlife crisis, menopause) are featured as well. And all chapters and entries include references and resource lists. The Encyclopedia has been developed for maximum utility to clinicians, social workers, researchers, and public health professionals working with older adults. Its multidisciplinary coverage and scope of topics make this volume an invaluable reference for academic and public libraries.