Most public health students, academics, and practitioners recognise the association between racial/ethnic minority status and the disproportionate burden of preventable disease in the USA. Much less attention has been directed, however, towards the health disparities that affect gay and bisexual men. These disparities affect the lives of an estimated 5.3-7.4 million American men, and are an important concern for public health. Until very recently, the relative invisibility of this group and a paucity of empirical data have hampered attempts to identify health disparities experienced by gay and bisexual men. This book proposes to review and synthesize evidence of health disparities among gay and bisexual men, identify individual and community factors that contribute to these disparities, and articulate strategies for public health efforts to eliminate disparities. To date, these disparities have largely been discussed in isolation in the research literature in a manner that does not permit a comprehensive examination of these problems, their underlying causes, and potential solutions. Thus, a primary emphasis of the book will be to document health disparities among gay and bisexual men while also describing public health solutions to these challenges.

Geographic Information Systems and Public Health: Eliminating Perinatal Disparity is designed to introduce a community health group to the potential of using a geographic information system (GIS) to improve birth outcomes. Chapters in this book provide an overview of why geography is important in the investigation of health, the importance of the four main components of a GIS (data input, manipulation, analysis and visualization), how important neighborhood context is when using a GIS, and the general differences found between urban and rural health environments. In addition, the reader is introduced to the importance of GIS and confidentially, how a mobile urban population may impact GIS findings, and why pregnant mothers should catered for when making disaster response plans. Examples are drawn heavily from the Baton Rouge Healthy Start program, with one chapter providing an overview guide as to how GIS can be incorporated in the initial grant writing stage for such a program.

This lucid and comprehensive book explores the ways in which the State, the market and the citizen can collaborate to satisfy people's health care needs. It argues that health care is not a commodity like any other. It asks if its unique properties mean that there is a role for social regulation and political management. Apples and oranges can be left to the buyers and the sellers. Health care may require an input from the consensus, the experts, the insurers, the politicians and the bureaucrats as well. David Reisman makes a fresh contribution to the debate. He argues that the three policy issues that are of primary importance are choice, equality and cost. He explores the balance between the patient, the practitioner and public opinion; the disparities in outcome indicators and access to medical care; and the escalation in prices and quantities at the expense of other areas of social life. Reisman concludes that, despite its significance for the individual and the nation, there is no single definition of health or health care. The maximand is a mix. Yet decisions have to be made. This thought-provoking and insightful book will be of use to students and scholars of public policy, social policy and health economics. It will also be of interest to medical practitioners who want to situate hard choices about health and illness in a broad multidisciplinary context.

This book develops and assesses a decision-making model for resource management in complex work systems in line with the "Systems Engineering" method. It applies the Balanced Scorecard to the development of the criteria system for decision-making, and employs fuzzy linguistics theory to evaluate the alternatives. Further, the book assesses the application of this model in a hospital that has to decide whether or not to outsource its sterile goods. The use of the model opens up a diverse range of fields for decision-making in the area of complex work systems.

This issue covers topics central to the management of the patient with a chronic disease by taking a comprehenisve look at: Successful/Innovative Models in Chronic Disease Management, The Patient-Centered Medical Home, Self-Management Education and Support, Major Pharmacologic Issues in Chronic Disease Management, Health Information Technology, Community-Based Partnerships for Improving Chronic Disease Management, and Effective Strategies for Behavioral Change, Diabetes Management, CHF Management, Asthma Management, and Depression Management.

Every day for the next twenty years, more than 10,000 people in the United States will turn 65. With life expectancies increasing as well, many of these Americans will eventually require round-the-clock attention--and we have only begun to prepare for the challenge of caring for them. In Labors of Love, Jason Rodriquez examines the world of the fast-growing elder care industry, providing a nuanced and balanced portrait of the day-to-day lives of the people and organizations that devote their time to supporting America's aging population. Through extensive ethnographic research, interviews with staff and management, and analysis of internal documents, Rodriquez explores the inner workings of two different nursing homes--one for-profit and one non-profit--to understand the connections among the administrative regulations, the professional requirements, and the type of care provided in both types of facilities. He reveals a variety of challenges that nursing home care workers face day to day: battles over the budget; the administrative hurdles of Medicaid and Medicare; the employees' struggle to balance financial stability and compassionate care for residents. Yet, Rodriquez argues, nursing home workers give meaning and dignity to their work by building emotional attachments to residents and their care. An unprecedented study, Labors of Love brings new insight into the underlying structures of a crucial and expanding sector of the American health care system.

This in-depth book addresses a key void in the literature surrounding the Internet of Things (IoT) and health. By systematically evaluating the benefits of mobile, wireless, and sensor-based IoT technologies when used in health and wellness contexts, the book sheds light on the next frontier for healthcare delivery. These technologies generate data with significant potential to enable superior care delivery, self-empowerment, and wellness management. Collecting valuable insights and recommendations in one accessible volume, chapter authors identify key areas in health and wellness where IoT can be used, highlighting the benefits, barriers, and facilitators of these technologies as well as suggesting areas for improvement in current policy and regulations. Four overarching themes provide a suitable setting to examine the critical insights presented in the 31 chapters: Mobile- and sensor-based solutions Opportunities to incorporate critical aspects of analytics to provide superior insights and thus support better decision-making Critical issues around aspects of IoT in healthcare contexts Applications of portals in healthcare contexts A comprehensive overview that introduces the critical issues regarding the role of IoT technologies for health, Delivering Superior Health and Wellness Management with IoT and Analytics paves the way for scholars, practitioners, students, and other stakeholders to understand how to substantially improve health and wellness management on a global scale.

Lasting healthcare for the entire population, specifically the elderly, has become a main priority in society. It is imperative to find ways to boost the longevity of healthcare services for all users. Sustainable Health and Long-Term Care Solutions for an Aging Population is a pivotal reference source featuring the latest scholarly research on issues pertinent to health cost and finding effective ways of financing healthcare for the elderly. Including coverage on a number of topics such as provider accreditation, corporate social responsibility, and data management, this book is ideally designed for policy makers, academicians, researchers, and advanced-level students seeking current research on the innovative planning and development of healthcare.

Fundamentals of industrial hygiene is an introductory book for safety professionals that provides an overview in relation to the legislative requirements and occupational hygiene. This book reviews the aspects of safety from the inception of a hazard through the establishment of a hygiene programme and risk assessment. The book addresses the fundamental aspects of occupational hygiene, human physiology and industrial diseases linked to hygiene stressors. The topic in Fundamentals of industrial hygiene was chosen to assist the safety professional to manage the safety gaps in an organisation and to assist with the development of a hygiene programme through effective risk assessment. An effective hygiene programme stems from an effective safety leadership and co-operative cross-functional teams that strives for continual improvement of the organisations safety management system. The book begins with an historical overview of occupational hygiene and givens an overview of the legal framework of occupational hygiene. It is essential that the safety professional to understand the interaction of toxins in the human body, thus the book covers chapter related to human physiology and toxicology. From this exposure control and sampling strategy gives the safety professional an overview the basis of occupational hygiene and hygiene management. Fundamentals of industrial hygiene will assist safety professionals, safety management students, Chief Executive officers and employers to establish an occupational hygiene programmes within their organisation.

Classrooms and Clinics is the first book-length assessment of the development of public school health policies from the late nineteenth century through the early years of the Great Depression. Richard A. Meckel examines the efforts of early twentieth-century child health care advocates and reformers to utilize urban schools to deliver health care services to socioeconomically disadvantaged and medically underserved children in the primary grades. Their goal, Meckel shows, was to improve the children's health and thereby improve their academic performance. Meckel situates these efforts within a larger late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century public discourse relating schools and schooling, especially in cities and towns, to child health. He describes and explains how that discourse and the school hygiene movement it inspired served as critical sites for the constructive negotiation of the nature and extent of the public school's-and by extension the state's-responsibility for protecting and promoting the physical and mental health of the children for whom it was providing a compulsory education. Tracing the evolution of that negotiation through four overlapping stages, Meckel shows how, why, and by whom the health of schoolchildren was discursively constructed as a sociomedical problem and charts and explains the changes that construction underwent over time. He also connects the changes in problem construction to the design and implementation of various interventions and services and evaluates how that design and implementation were affected by the response of the civic, parental, professional, educational, public health, and social welfare groups that considered themselves stakeholders and took part in the discourse. And, most significantly, he examines the responses called forth by the question at the heart of the negotiations: what services are necessitated by the state's and school's taking responsibility for protecting and promoting the health and physical and mental development of schoolchildren. He concludes that the negotiations resulted both in the partial medicalization of American primary education and in the articulation and adoption of a school health policy that accepted the school's responsibility for protecting and promoting the health of its students while largely limiting the services called for to the preventive and educational.

Fundamentals of US Health Care: Principles and Perspectives takes the broad, complex topic of health care in the United States and presents it in a digestible, easy-to-read format. Focusing on some of the fundamental issues facing the health care system today, this book delivers simple, objective coverage of key topics including cost, access, quality, financing, manpower, and public health. By blending current, factual data, basic principles, and multiple perspectives on controversial issues, the book provides a balanced approach to the core issues facing the health care industry. Case studies and vignettes throughout allow readers to explore how these problems impact real-life situations and hone their critical thinking skills for their professional careers.

This book highlights (1) the significance of reciprocity for the maintenance of self-esteem in old age and (2) the negative implications for the well-being of dependent older people when that significance goes unrecognized and, as a consequence, opportunities to give back to society, as well as take from it, are not facilitated by those in a position to do so. The discussion draws on research undertaken in the UK and Southern India into the extent to which having the self-perception of being valued in the world is important to older people in receipt of care support and whether, in their experience, this is recognized by others. The author presents an analysis of theoretical insights from leading thinkers across a broad range of literature and from several disciplines, including social theory, social work, philosophy, and gerontology. The author also gives voice to the perspectives of those dependent older people not often heard because of marginalizing and disempowering processes that contribute to their having little opportunity to be heard in the first place. The emphasis of this book is on aspiration to a meaningful life and continuing personal growth as offering a challenge to dominant discourses the equate old age with decline.

This data-rich work examines today's most compelling and controversial public health issues, including alcohol and drug abuse, AIDS, abortion, black and infant mortality, drug-affected babies, child abuse, teenage pregnancy, and cigarette smoking. Hammerle's theme is that individual behavioral choices often have far-reaching and costly effects. When practiced by large numbers of people, the human and fiscal costs can be monumental, taxing virtually all of our social systems as well as our financial resources. Hammerle enumerates these costs and, employing economic analytical tools, recommends public policies that will reduce the incidence of such behavior or otherwise reduce its social cost. Some recommendations are outside the mainstream, but all are well substantiated and soundly argued.

This volume will be of great interest to academics, practitioners, and policy-makers in the fields of public health, health care administration, public policy, child protection, and family planning. The work will also interest economists and sociologists in the field of social welfare, as well as lay persons who are concerned about these timely public health issues.

This book offers a systematic review of major issues and trends in health care policy, including those related to physical health and disease trends, mental and behavioral health concerns, reorganizing the U.S. health system, and managed care and health care personnel. Kronenfeld addresses the problems, challenges, issues and trends in the policies that determine the role and future of health care in the United States. Also covered are special populations, such as the elderly and children, reproductive health, and issues cost, quality, and access to care. Health care policies affect all Americans. Managed care has been a major trend in the past decade's reorganization of the U.S. health care system, yet its future is uncertain. Despite unparalleled spending and the world's most technologically sophisticated health care, measure such as life expectancy and infant mortality rates indicate that the country's health outcomes may not be the best. Mental health and behavioral health problems are major impediments to quality of life for some Americans, and roughly 17% of the population under 65 does not have insurance coverage for necessary health care services. Despite calls for a major overhaul of the U.S. health care system, incremental reform is more likely than major, comprehensive reform.

What new theories, evidence, andpolicies have shaped health economicsin the 21st century?

Editors Mark Pauly, Thomas McGuire, and Pedro Pita Barros assemblethe expertise of leading authoritiesin this survey ofsubstantive issues. In 16chapters theycover recent developments in health economics, from medical spending growth to the demand for health care, the markets for pharmaceutical products, the medical workforce, and equity in health and health care.Its global perspective, including an emphasis on low and middle-income countries, will result in the same high citations that made Volume 1 (2000) a foundational text.
Presents coherent summaries of major subjects and methodologies, marking important advances and revisions. Serves as a frequently used non-journal reference. Introduces non-economists to the best research in health economics. "

This books provides an essential study of communicable diseases, by integrating the diagnosis, treatment and cure of communicable diseases in developing countries with the practical aspects of delivery of these services to the public.

As the field of counseling continues to experience major growth, the need for clinical supervisors is growing proportionally. This stand-alone text for graduate and post-Masters level supervision courses contains all of the information clinical supervisors will need to practice effectively in community mental health and private practice settings. It aligns with current supervision standards issued by the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, and with the recommendations of the American Association for State Counseling Boards.

The book integrates theoretical and practical information while addressing all stages of the supervision process, from initial conceptualization and preparation to direct application and advanced skill utilization. Special attention is paid to ethical and legal issues, professional development, multicultural competence, evaluation, supervisory alliance, parallel process, and advanced supervision strategies. The text presents helpful tools for effective problem solving, including the supervisor self-concept exercise that guides the student in solidifying his or her identity as a supervisor. It will be useful for all levels of experience from novice to advanced supervisors. Key Features:

Aligns with current national and state-specific supervision standards Engages readers in multiple exercises that readily facilitate application of concepts and theories Provides solutions to common and emerging supervision dilemmas Addresses such underrepresented supervision components as group supervision and dilemmas specific to private practice or agencies

This book explore assumptions underpinning contemporary health policy discourses that emphasize personal responsibility for health, consider how they attach to changing information technologies, and discuss their influence on emerging forms of health 'work'.

"A must-read for both current and future retirees." --Robert Powell, Retirement Daily Includes the Most Up-to-Date Information for 2020-2021 Confused by Medicare? Get answers from Maximize Your Medicare, an informative guide by nationally recognized expert Jae W. Oh. Maximize Your Medicare helps readers understand how and what to choose when deciding on Medicare options. This book shows readers how to: Enroll in Medicare and avoid never-ending penalties Compare Medigap vs. Medicare Advantage Discern the differences among Parts A, B, and D Increase benefits every year Avoid costly errors Deal with special circumstances Get the most from the plan Written in a clear and concise style, Maximize Your Medicare is a vital resource for every American aged sixty-five or older, as well as for their families and care coordinators.

"The healthcare industry in the United States consumes roughly 20% of the gross national product per year. This huge expenditure not only represents a large portion of the country's collective interests, but also an enormous amount of medical information. Information intensive healthcare enterprises have unique issues related to the collection, disbursement, and integration of various data within the healthcare system.Information Systems and Healthcare Enterprises provides insight on the challenges arising from the adaptation of information systems to the healthcare industry, including development, design, usage, adoption, expansion, and compliance with industry regulations. Highlighting the role of healthcare information systems in fighting healthcare fraud and the role of information technology and vendors, this book will be a highly valued addition to academic, medical, and health science libraries."