Ethnicity, Race, and Health in Multicultural Societies Foundations for Better Epidemiology, Public Health, and Health Care

by Bhopal, Raj S.

• ISBN13: 9780198568179
• ISBN10: 0198568177
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-02-22
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Most of the industrialized world now comprises of multi-ethnic societies, with people from widely varying ancestry, cultures, languages, and beliefs. With globalization of trade, increasing international travel, and migration, the whole world is destined to become multi-ethnic within the next20 or 30 years. This poses huge challenges for doctors, nurses, public health practitioners, health care managers, and policy makers who have to meet legal and policy obligations to deliver health outcomes, and provide health care of equal quality and effectiveness. To achieve this, they need asolid understanding of the underlying concepts of race and ethnicity, and how these are applied to achieve better health for ethnic minority populations. They also need to have an awareness of the misuses of these concepts, particularly taking into account the history of racism that permeates manysocieties to this day. Written in non-technical language, with all terminology explained and defined, this book provides an accessible introduction to these complex issues. The key concepts of race and ethnicity are explained, including their uses and misuses. The strengths and weaknesses of these concepts in terms ofepidemiology, policy making, health service planning, research, health care, and health promotion are illustrated. The book emphasises theory, ideas, and principles, and and its aims are to help counteract the unethical and atheoretical methods often used to study ethnicity. Practical application ofthe theory is demonstrated through the use of extensive examples. The conceptual frameworks of ethnicity and race required by practitioners and researchers are slightly different, including the nature of research questions, the relative value of various methods of classification, and the approachto data analysis, presentation, and interpretation, and these differences are made explicit. Overall, the interdependence of theory and practice is demonstrated, making this and ideal foundation text or refresher for those involved in race and ethnicity from a health care perspective.

Author Biography

Professor Raj Bhopal has written approximately 150 peer reviewed works on subjects including Legionnaires' disease, environmental epidemiology, primary care, ethnicity and health, and the applications of epidemiology.
His textbook, Concepts of Epidemiology, published by Oxford University Press in 2002, won the BMA 1st prize in the Public Health category in December 2003.
He has served as non-executive Director of the Health Education Authority (1996-1999).
In 2000 he was awarded the J W Starkey Silver Medal (2000) of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health for "outstanding work in the promotion of health in medical, paramedical and psychiatric fields".
Professor Bhopal was appointed CBE in 2001 for his services to public health; and in November 2005 he was awarded an honorary DSc by Queen Margaret University College for his services to the improvement of health in the community.

Table of Contents

Introduction: the concepts of ethnicity and race in health

Terminology and classifications for racial and ethnic groups

Challenges of collecting and interpreting data using the concepts ofethnicity and race

Historical analysis of the development of health and health care services forethnic minorities

Defining health and health care needs using quantitative and qualitative data

Ethnic inequalities in health and health care

Principles for setting priorities for ethnic minority populations

Strategic approaches to health and health care services for ethnic minoritygroups

Research on and with ethnic minority groups: past and future

Theoretical, ethical and future-orientated perspectives

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