This book, originally published in 1983, drawing material from Europe, the USA, the Soviet Union and the Developing World, provides a comprehensive review of the key issues in medical geography. It sets the central problems of medical geography in a broad social context as well as in a spatial one and analyses changing conceptions of health and illness in detail. It also explores the pathological relationship between people and their environment and illustrates that social phenomena form spatial patterns which provide a good starting point for the examination of the relationship between medicine, health and society.
This book, originally published in 1983, drawing material from Europe, the USA, the Soviet Union and the Developing World, provides a comprehensive review of the key issues in medical geography. It sets the central problems of medical geography in a broad social context as well as in a spatial one and analyses changing conceptions of health and illness in detail. It also explores the pathological relationship between people and their environment and illustrates that social phenomena form spatial patterns which provide a good starting point for the examination of the relationship between medicine, health and society.
This book considers the social and geographical context in which the National Health Service (NHS) operated during the 1970s and 1980s. It argues that disease and health care systems are the product to a large degree of the wider social and cultural context. It explores the relationship between health, work, poverty, housing, class and culture. examines how resource allocation and social policies are determined by the wider social and cultural context. discusses how the health of the nation, broadly defined should best be managed. As relevant today as when it was originally published, comments on the nature of welfare geography, assesses the impact of integrated approaches on the policy process and points the way forward to geographies rather than a geography of the national health.
The therapeutic landscape concept, first introduced early in the 1990s, has been widely employed in health/medical geography and gaining momentum in various health-related disciplines. This is the first book published in several years, and provides an introduction to the concept and its applications. Written by health/medical geographers and anthropologists, it addresses contemporary applications in the natural and built environments; for special populations, such as substance abusers; and in health care sites, a new and evolving area - and provides an array of critiques or contestations of the concept and its various applications. The conclusion of the work provides a critical evaluation of the development and progress of the concept to date, signposting the likely avenues for future investigation.
**Named a 2014 Choice Outstanding Academic Title** Combining coverage of key themes and debates from a variety of historical and theoretical perspectives, this authoritative reference volume offers the most up-to-date and substantive analysis of cultural geography currently available. A significantly revised new edition covering a number of new topics such as biotechnology, rural, food, media and tech, borders and tourism, whilst also reflecting developments in established subjects including animal geographies Edited and written by the leading authorities in this fast-developing discipline, and features a host of new contributors to the second edition Traces the historical evolution of cultural geography through to the very latest research Provides an international perspective, reflecting the advancing academic traditions of non-Western institutions, especially in Asia Features a thematic structure, with sections exploring topics such as identities, nature and culture, and flows and mobility
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
The International Encyclopedia of Human Geography provides an authoritative and comprehensive source of information on the discipline of human geography and its constituent, and related, subject areas. The encyclopedia includes over 1,000 detailed entries on philosophy and theory, key concepts, methods and practices, biographies of notable geographers, and geographical thought and praxis in different parts of the world. This groundbreaking project covers every field of human geography and the discipline’s relationships to other disciplines, and is global in scope, involving an international set of contributors. Given its broad, inclusive scope and unique online accessibility, it is anticipated that the International Encyclopedia of Human Geography will become the major reference work for the discipline over the coming decades. The Encyclopedia will be available in both limited edition print and online via ScienceDirect – featuring extensive browsing, searching, and internal cross-referencing between articles in the work, plus dynamic linking to journal articles and abstract databases, making navigation flexible and easy. For more information, pricing options and availability visit http://info.sciencedirect.com/content/books/ref_works/coming/ Available online on ScienceDirect and in limited edition print format Broad, interdisciplinary coverage across human geography: Philosophy, Methods, People, Social/Cultural, Political, Economic, Development, Health, Cartography, Urban, Historical, Regional Comprehensive and unique - the first of its kind in human geography
The discipline of geography has undergone much change and growth in recent years. With growth has come diversity. Before 1945 there were differences between countries in the emphases on subject matter and research approach, although these were all related closely to three main ‘models’ – French, German and American. Since then, the relative importance of French and German influences has declined substantially, including within their own national territories, and the Anglo-American model has grown to world dominance. With that model, however, there is no dominant point of view but rather a multiplicity of competing approaches. These various approaches have had a different reception in other parts of the world, reflecting the base of pre-1945 geographical scholarship, the goals of geographical work set by soceities and the nature of the international contacts. The result is substantial international diversity in the practice of geography. This authoritative volume provides much needed information to make them aware of current international trends.
The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.
This Companion provides a comprehensive account of health and medical geography and approaches the major themes and key topics from a variety of angles. Offers a unique breadth of topics relating to both health and medical geography Includes contributions from a range of scholars from rising stars to established, internationally renowned authors Provides an up-to-date review of the state of the sub-discipline Thematically organized sections offer detailed accounts of specific issues and combine general overviews of the current literature with case study material Chapters cover topics at the cutting edge of the sub-discipline, including emerging and re-emerging diseases, the politics of disease, mental and emotional health, landscapes of despair, and the geography of care
