Essentials of epidemiology in public health

Sample

Linda M. Burton ... [et al

'Place is an important element in understanding health and health care disparities. More that merely a geographic location, place is a socio-ecological force with detectable effects on social life, independent well-being, and health. Despite the general enthusiasm for the study of place and the potential it could have for a better understanding of the distribution of health in different communities, research is at a difficult crossroads because of disagreements in how the construct should be conceptualized and measured. This edited volume incorporates an cross-disciplinary approach to the study of place, in order to come up with a comprehensive and useful definition of place. Topics covered include: Social Inequalities, Historical Definitions of Place, Biology and Place, Rural vs. Urban Places, Racialization of a Place, Migration, Sacred Places, Technological Innovations An understanding of place is essential for health care professionals, as interventions often do not have the same effects in the clinic as they do in varied, naturalistic social settings.'--Provided by publisher.

Sample

David G. Kleinbaum, Mitchel Klein

This greatly expanded third edition of Survival Analysis- A Self-learning Text provides a highly readable description of state-of-the-art methods of analysis of survival/event-history data. This text is suitable for researchers and statisticians working in the medical and other life sciences as well as statisticians in academia who teach introductory and second-level courses on survival analysis. The third edition continues to use the unique "lecture-book" format of the first two editions with one new chapter, additional sections and clarifications to several chapters, and a revised computer appendix. The Computer Appendix, with step-by-step instructions for using the computer packages STATA, SAS, and SPSS, is expanded to include the software package R. David Kleinbaum is Professor of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Kleinbaum is internationally known for innovative textbooks and teaching on epidemiological methods, multiple linear regression, logistic regression, and survival analysis. He has provided extensive worldwide short-course training in over 150 short courses on statistical and epidemiological methods. He is also the author of ActivEpi (2002), an interactive computer-based instructional text on fundamentals of epidemiology, which has been used in a variety of educational environments including distance learning. Mitchel Klein is Research Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH) and the Department of Epidemiology, also at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Dr. Klein is also co-author with Dr. Kleinbaum of the second edition of Logistic Regression- A Self-Learning Text (2002). He has regularly taught epidemiologic methods courses at Emory to graduate students in public health and in clinical medicine. He is responsible for the epidemiologic methods training of physicians enrolled in Emory’s Master of Science in Clinical Research Program, and has collaborated with Dr. Kleinbaum both nationally and internationally in teaching several short courses on various topics in epidemiologic methods.

Sample

Nicholas J. Fox

Postmodernism and post-structuralism challenge fundamental positions in social theory. This book sets out of the components of a postmodern social theory of health and healing, deriving from theorists such as Derrida, Deleuze and Guattari, Foucault, Cixous and Kristeva. The body of the patient is inscribed by discourses of professional "care" as well as by pain and suffering. Rejecting simple determinism, the author explores the character of this power - and how it may be, and is, resisted. The book illustrates with detailed examples how the organization of health care and the caring relationship itself are sites for this contest of power. Elements of feminist theory, and Derridean concepts of differance and intertextuality supply the framework for the politics and ethics of the postmodern position on health. Deleuze and Guattari's radical challenge to psychoanalysis and familial repetitions within the healer/patient contact allows a re-reading of central ideas in medical sociology. While focusing on the possibilities of postmodern social theory, the book demands a re-appraisal of issues of structure, identity and knowledge in modernist medical sociology. Modernist sociology - it suggests - has been complicit in the creation of "the patient" and of "health" and "illness". Written with an emphasis on accessibility, the book explores the practical consequences of postmodern theory as well as familiarizing the reader with the concepts of postmodernism.

Sample

Jonathan M. Metzl and Anna Kirkland

From anti-war walkouts to anarchist youth newspapers, rallies against educational privatization, and workshops on fair trade, teenage girls are active participants and leaders in a variety of social movements. This work illuminates the experiences and perspectives of these uniquely positioned agents of social change. The author introduces readers to a diverse and vibrant transnational community of teenage girl activists in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mexico City, Caracas, Buenos Aires, and Vancouver. She brings to life the voices of these inspiring activists who are engaged in innovative and effective organizing for global and local social justice, highlighting their important contributions to contemporary social movements and social theory. The work explores how teenage girls construct activist identities, rejecting and redefining girlhood and claiming political authority for youth in the process. The author examines the girl activists' social movement strategies and collective political practices, detailing their shared commitments to process-based political education, participatory democracy, and hopeful enthusiasm. Ultimately, this work has implications for social movements and youth organizations, arguing that adult social movements could learn a great deal from girl activists and making clear the importance of increased collaboration between young people and adults.