Essentials of Health, Culture, and Diversity: Understanding People, Reducing Disparities (Essential Public Health) 1st Edition

Easy read and gives a lot of examples which refer to the materials covered in each chapter. Great book thus far!

After spending 10 years of experience working and volunteering in global health and medical anthropology projects, and receiving a masters in public health with a global health specialization, I can say that this is hands down the best textbook I've read on the subject. I can't recommend it more for people who will be studying or working in this field. This is a short textbook (about 2/3 to 1/2 the length of other books on the subject.) It was packed with practical information from someone who has obviously down boots-on-the-ground work in this field. I wish I had read it before moving to Mexico to work in food security and famine prevention for four years, it would have radically improved the outcomes of my projects.

For public health practitioners, medical, nursing, social workers and mental health providers this is a great book to read and use in daily contacts with others as well as in research articles.

This was a required textbook for a "Health and Culture" class I recently took. It was an easy read and I really liked the real-world examples outlined in the book, but I felt the core messages could be largely summed up in far fewer words:1) "Culture" can encompass almost anything and each person's interpretation of their own relative "culture" develops based on a number of factors, including age, gender, geographic location, financial status, social exposures, parental upbringing, national and global social characteristics, etc. Essentially, every person's "culture" is unique and people within common cultures don't necessarily view those cultures the same way.2) The terms "health" and "illness" can mean something different for everyone. To some, an illness is only a condition which does not go away. To others, it can be anything that inhibits a person's maximal performance, even in the short term. The definitions of what constitutes "health" are even more varied!3) Cultures can exist at the individual, familial, community, national and global levels and even integrated systems, such as health care, can maintain their own unique "culture" which presents both benefits and challenges whenever it comes into contact with one of the previously mentioned levels of "culture".4) Barriers to healthcare can be physical or cultural or even a combination of both, such as access, affordability, language or ethical differences.5) To overcome the majority of barriers and improve overall patient care moving forward, healthcare and its practitioners need to better understand points 1-4!In essence, the author asks those going into healthcare to become "culturally competent" and consider the person, their system of beliefs and any barriers posed by their status in society when applying care related to heath and to understand that even two persons or groups existing in a similar environment can still vary greatly in what they need to be "healthy".Of course, it takes the author nearly 200 pages to say as much, but it does get you thinking about how we can address such differences in the real world.I wouldn't go out of my way to buy and read this book again if it wasn't required for my class, but I did take away some solid perspectives concerning cultural sensitivity that will likely benefit me when I am dealing with people and health issues in my own community.

Book was delivered in great condition, no highlights, water marks, and spine intact. No issues at all.

This a very thought provoking and easy read! Only selecting 4 out of 5 because I have about 3 more weeks to finish.

This book and the accompanying course were very interesting and I learned great new things!

Great product!

Well-written with great examples, except way too expensive.