Epidemiology and the People's Health

Theory and Context

Nancy Krieger (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

400 Seiten

2011
Oxford University Press Inc (Verlag)
978-0-19-538387-4 (ISBN)

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Epidemiology is often referred to as the science of public health. However, unlike other major sciences, its theoretical foundations are rarely articulated. While the idea of epidemiologic theory may seem dry and arcane, it is at its core about explaining the people's health. It is about life and death. It is about biology and society. It is about ecology and the economy. It is about how myriad aspects of people's lives - involving work, dignity, desire, love, play, conflict, discrimination, and injustice - become literally incorporated into our bodies and manifest in our health status, individually and collectively. And it is about essential knowledge critical for improving the people's health and minimizing inequitable burdens of disease, disability, and death.

Woven from a vast array of schools of thought, including those in the natural, social, and biomedical sciences, epidemiologic theory is a rich tapestry whose time for analysis is long overdue. By tracing its history and contours from ancient societies on through the development of - and debates within - contemporary epidemiology worldwide, Dr. Krieger shows how epidemiologic theory has long shaped epidemiologic practice, knowledge, and the politics of public health. Outlining an ecosocial theory of disease distribution that situates both population health and epidemiologic theory in societal and ecologic context, she offers a more holistic picture of how we embody the human experience.

This concise, conceptually rich, and accessible book is a rallying cry for a return to the study and discussion of epidemiologic theory: what it is, why it matters, how it has changed over time, and its implications for improving population health and promoting health equity. It should be required reading for all epidemiologists, or anyone involved in the study of human health and well-being.

Nancy Krieger, Ph.D., is Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health, as well as Associate Director of the Harvard Center for Society and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. She is also Chair of the Spirit of 1848 Caucus, American Public Health Association.

Preface Chapter 1: Does Epidemiologic Theory Exist? - on science, data, and explaining disease distribution Chapter 2: Health in the Balance: early theories about patterns of disease occurrence Chapter 3: Epidemiology Emerges: early theories and debating determinants of disease distribution - poison, filth, class & race (1600-1900) Chapter 4: Epidemiology Expands: germs, genes, and the (social) environment (1900-1950) Chapter 5: Contemporary Mainstream Epidemiologic Theory: biomedical & lifestyle Chapter 6: Social Epidemiologic Alternatives: sociopolitical and psychosocial frameworks Chapter 7: Ecosocial Theory of Disease Distribution: embodying societal & ecologic context Chapter 8: Epidemiologic Theory Counts: harm, knowledge, action and the people's health

Erscheint lt. Verlag	9.6.2011
Zusatzinfo	43 line-cuts
Verlagsort	New York
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 236 mm
Gewicht	703 g
Themenwelt	Studium ► Querschnittsbereiche ► Epidemiologie / Med. Biometrie
Themenwelt	Studium ► Querschnittsbereiche ► Prävention / Gesundheitsförderung
ISBN-10	0-19-538387-7 / 0195383877
ISBN-13	978-0-19-538387-4 / 9780195383874
Zustand	Neuware