Social Epidemiology

by Lisa F. Berkman (Editor), Ichiro Kawachi (Editor)

Overview

The authors of this groundbreaking text define social epidemiology as the study of the social determinants of health, implying that an important goal of public health is to identify and address factors in the social environment that may be related to health outcomes. In the first systematic account of this field, they focus on the major social variables that influence health, including socioeconomic position, income distribution, race/ethnicity, gender, social networks/social support, social capital and community cohesion, work environment, life transitions, and affective psychological states. Individual chapters describe the conceptualization and measurement of each social variable, as well as the empirical evidence linking them to a broad range of mental, physical, and behavioral health outcomes. The volume draws on the expertise of an internationally renowned group of scholars, representing the diversity of disciplines relevant to this emerging field, from sociology and psychology to physiology and medicine. The approaches covered by the chapters span the range from formulating and testing hypotheses about the links between social conditions and health to designing and implementing interventions and social policies to improve population health. The challenge of persistent social inequalities in health across the globe makes this a timely publication. The book will be an indispensable introduction to the field for students, researchers, practitioners, and policy analysts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199879670
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/09/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Lisa F. Berkman, PhD, is the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy, Epidemiology, and Global Health and Population at the Harvard School of Public Health. She is the Director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.

Ichiro Kawachi, MD, PhD, is Professor of Social Epidemiology and Chair of the Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he has taught for over 20 years.

M. Maria Glymour, ScD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, where she directs the PhD program in Epidemiology and Translational Sciences.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Leonard Syme

Chapter 1
A Historical Framework for Social Epidemiology: Social Determinants of Population Health
Lisa F. Berkman and Ichiro Kawachi

Chapter 2
Socioeconomic Status and Health
M. Maria Glymour, Mauricio Avendano, and Ichiro Kawachi

Chapter 3
Discrimination and Health Inequities
Nancy Krieger

Chapter 4
Income Inequality
Ichiro Kawachi and SV Subramanian

Chapter 5
Working Conditions and Health
Lisa F. Berkman, Ichiro Kawachi, And Töres Theorell

Chapter 6
Labor Markets, Employment Policies, and Health
Mauricio Avendano and Lisa F. Berkman

Chapter 7
Social Network Epidemiology
Lisa F. Berkman and Aditi Krishna

Chapter 8
Social Capital, Social Cohesion, and Health
Ichiro Kawachi and Lisa F. Berkman

Chapter 9
Affective States and Health
Laura D. Kubzansky, Ashley Winning, and Ichiro Kawachi

Chapter 10
Changing Health Behaviors in a Social Context
Cassandra Okechukwu, Kirsten Davison, and Karen Emmons

Chapter 11
Experimental Psychosocial Interventions
Thomas A. Glass, Amii M. Kress, and Lisa F. Berkman

Chapter 12
Policies as Tools for Research and Translation in Social Epidemiology
M .Maria Glymour

Chapter 13
Applications of Behavioral Economics to Improve Health
Ichiro Kawachi

Chapter 14
Biological Pathways Linking Social Conditions and Health: Plausible Mechanisms and Emerging Puzzles
Laura D. Kubzansky, Teresa E. Seeman, M .Maria Glymour

Chapter 15
From Science to Policy
Michael Marmot and Jessica Allen

Editorial Reviews

5 Stars! from Doody

This edited, multiauthored book on social epidemiology is the first of its kind in which the major social factors that influence health outcomes are dealt with systematically. The reader is introduced to the major social forces and concepts that undoubtedly play a role in maintaining health and preventing disease. Collectively, the contributors examine the social context in which behavioral risk factors occur, and identify and describe a range of social conditions that may influence a broad range of health outcomes. "The editors have attempted to define, in chapters written by internationally renowned social epidemiologists, this newly recognized area of epidemiology. The main objective is to provide the reader with a guide to the major social conditions of importance and to new approaches in statistics, physiology, public policy, and social psychology; this endeavor has been largely successful. "The audience is identified broadly, ranging from graduate student (I would include medical and nursing students) to active investigator. It should appeal to a wide range of prospective readers. Psychiatrists, practitioners in primary care, psychologists, policy analysts and others in public health, in addition to epidemiologists and medical sociologists, should find something of interest in this up-to-date text. "The book is divided into five parts: socioeconomic inequities and the impact of discrimination on health; the work environment and labor market's relationship to health status; the role of community and social relations in health; psychological factors associated with health outcomes; and a potpourri of multidisciplinary issues pertinent to social epidemiology. Useful tables andfigures complement the text, the references are recent, and the diversity of content minimizes overlap between chapters. "As an academic psychiatrist-epidemiologist, I have long recognized the importance of psychosocial factors in the onset and course of psychiatric illness and in the response to therapeutic interventions. With medicine becoming more population-based and less individual-oriented, future practitioners must be schooled in the social conditions and behavioral risk factors relevant to disease and its prevention. In providing a resource that explicates the social determinants of illness and helps the reader to understand the impact of social organization and structure on health and access to healthcare, the editors make this book a valuable contribution to the literature on psychosocial epidemiology. The listed price is a little high but competitive in today's book market.

Howard M. Kravitz

Reviewer: Howard M. Kravitz, DO, MPH (Rush University Medical Center)
Description: This edited, multiauthored book on social epidemiology is the first of its kind in which the major social factors that influence health outcomes are dealt with systematically. The reader is introduced to the major social forces and concepts that undoubtedly play a role in maintaining health and preventing disease. Collectively, the contributors examine the social context in which behavioral risk factors occur, and identify and describe a range of social conditions that may influence a broad range of health outcomes.
Purpose: The editors have attempted to define, in chapters written by internationally renowned social epidemiologists, this newly recognized area of epidemiology. The main objective is to provide the reader with a guide to the major social conditions of importance and to new approaches in statistics, physiology, public policy, and social psychology; this endeavor has been largely successful.
Audience: The audience is identified broadly, ranging from graduate student (I would include medical and nursing students) to active investigator. It should appeal to a wide range of prospective readers. Psychiatrists, practitioners in primary care, psychologists, policy analysts and others in public health, in addition to epidemiologists and medical sociologists, should find something of interest in this up-to-date text.
Features: The book is divided into five parts: socioeconomic inequities and the impact of discrimination on health; the work environment and labor market's relationship to health status; the role of community and social relations in health; psychological factors associated with health outcomes; and a potpourri of multidisciplinary issues pertinent to social epidemiology. Useful tables and figures complement the text, the references are recent, and the diversity of content minimizes overlap between chapters.
Assessment: As an academic psychiatrist-epidemiologist, I have long recognized the importance of psychosocial factors in the onset and course of psychiatric illness and in the response to therapeutic interventions. With medicine becoming more population-based and less individual-oriented, future practitioners must be schooled in the social conditions and behavioral risk factors relevant to disease and its prevention. In providing a resource that explicates the social determinants of illness and helps the reader to understand the impact of social organization and structure on health and access to healthcare, the editors make this book a valuable contribution to the literature on psychosocial epidemiology. The listed price is a little high but competitive in today's book market.

Doody's Review Service

"The seminal textbook in the field." — American Journal of Epidemiology

From the Publisher