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The Health of Populations Stephen J. Kunitz (Professor, Professor, Department of Community and Preventative Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, USA)

The Health of Populations By Stephen J. Kunitz (Professor, Professor, Department of Community and Preventative Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, USA)

Summary

Describes how ideas about the costs and benefits of industrialisation, and causes of disease, have been used from different ideological persuasions to explain the health of populations. This book focuses on ideas that have been influential in debates: factors such as standard of living, community and its loss, inequality, and globalisation.

The Health of Populations Summary

The Health of Populations: General Theories and Practical Realities by Stephen J. Kunitz (Professor, Professor, Department of Community and Preventative Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, USA)

In the maelstrom of current public health debate over the social determinants of health, this book offers a well-balanced discussion on the roots of prevalent strains of thought on the matter. While this area of research deals in complex problems, it is often dominated by those who deploy rather categorical, partisan positions, citing from a wide range of contradictory statistical studies. Stephen Kunitz brings a measured, balanced, and independent perspective to bear on the debate, taking a step back from current arguments to look at the fundamental issues through a socio-historical lens. Part I describes how ideas about the costs and benefits of industrialisation, and about the causes of disease, have been used by writers from different ideological persuasions to explain the health of populations. Part II focuses on some of the ideas that have been particularly influential in contemporary debates: factors such as standard of living, community and its loss, inequality, and globalisation. The fact that these have been used to support differing explanations of the determinants of population health suggests that there are no easy generalisations in a field with so many discrepant findings. Scientists often ignore anomalous findings in the interests of advancing a particular paradigm, until the anomalies outweigh the norm and a new paradigm is created. This book argues that in considering social determinants of health, no meaningful over-arching explanations may be possible. Rather, it is by immersion in the reality of particular contexts - work settings, historical periods, geopolitical regions, and governmental credos - that we may gain a better understanding of the way in which social forces shape patterns of health and disease.

The Health of Populations Reviews

It provides a balanced perspective on current debates over the social determinants of health, offering an opportunity to focus on the roots of prevalent strains of thought. It is an interesting book, which will be a worthy addition to my bookshelf. * Fiona Adshead, Director General Health Improvement, Public Health *
...an excellent resource. One of its many virtues is the wealth of tables and figures, always apposite and illustrative. [The book] is a major contribution to social science and public health, adding to the already considerable amount of solid knowledge that Stephen Kunitz has produced. * American Journal of Epidemiology *
...a subtle, yet provocative, survey of over a century of social and epidemiological thinking. * Int'l Journal of Epidemiology *

Table of Contents

PART I: EPISTEMOLOGY, IDEOLOGY, AND EPIDEMIOLOGY; PART II: THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY

Additional information

NPB9780195308075
9780195308075
0195308077
The Health of Populations: General Theories and Practical Realities by Stephen J. Kunitz (Professor, Professor, Department of Community and Preventative Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, USA)
New
Hardback
Oxford University Press Inc
2006-10-26
304
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
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