Handbook of Urban Health: Populations, Methods, and Practice
http://www.100md.com
《新英格兰医药杂志》
The stated intentions of this book are to promote the systematic study of urban health and to serve as a bridge between urban health research and public health practice. For the most part, the book succeeds in reaching both aims. With its reasonably complete summaries of current knowledge in the area, it is a useful teaching guide and a well-referenced resource for students, practitioners, and academicians. It covers a remarkably broad range of topics with brief, mostly well-written overviews by academicians and practitioners from across the United States, and it provides an extensive list of references and resources for each topic for readers who want or need more detail.
The book has three sections. The first focuses on the health of specific urban populations, the second on methods central to the study of urban health, and the third on public health strategies for prevention and intervention in urban communities. All are written with the recognition of the unique physical, social, economic, and political factors influencing health in urban environments and with the acknowledgment of the growing importance of understanding and addressing these factors, given the dramatic acceleration of urbanization worldwide. In the last chapter of each section, the editors identify and discuss a set of common elements that tie the chapters together. These final chapters are useful because of the wide range of topics covered and the various and sometimes divergent perspectives of the authors, who represent many disciplines.
The most interesting aspect of the first section is the similarities that exist among an incredibly diverse set of populations. Although differences among various populations need to be considered by public health policy and practice, it is at least as important to consider and understand the urban population as a whole. Ultimately, properly informed public health policy and practice require a solid understanding of both the unique qualities of individual populations and the dynamics of the entire urban population as a composite of these interrelated groups.
The second section consists of a diverse set of chapters addressing methodologic strategies for the study of urban health. The key message in this section is the need for multidisciplinary research in order to provide useful information to guide policy and practice. Reading these chapters gives one a clear sense of the importance of developing a common language across disciplines and engendering collaboration and respect. Given the complexity of urban communities, the need for collaborative research is not surprising, but seeing the various perspectives of the disciplines back-to-back points out the need for skilled workers in interdisciplinary contexts.
In the last section, which focuses on public health practice in urban communities, the editors have completed the circle by providing examples of interventions that illustrate the importance of using good science to inform policy and practice, as well as the importance of offering frontline programs to guide research. This section further emphasizes the need for broad-based cross-disciplinary collaboration at the program level (in parallel with that at the research level) and the value of learning from best-practice models that provide promising strategies, given the extensive time and the complexities involved in measuring the long-term outcomes of these community-based interventions. This is an excellent book that could be useful for courses in urban health and as a resource for understanding urban health research, practice, and public policy.
Howard Spivak, M.D.
Tufts–New England Medical Center
Boston, MA 02111(Edited by Sandro Galea an)
The book has three sections. The first focuses on the health of specific urban populations, the second on methods central to the study of urban health, and the third on public health strategies for prevention and intervention in urban communities. All are written with the recognition of the unique physical, social, economic, and political factors influencing health in urban environments and with the acknowledgment of the growing importance of understanding and addressing these factors, given the dramatic acceleration of urbanization worldwide. In the last chapter of each section, the editors identify and discuss a set of common elements that tie the chapters together. These final chapters are useful because of the wide range of topics covered and the various and sometimes divergent perspectives of the authors, who represent many disciplines.
The most interesting aspect of the first section is the similarities that exist among an incredibly diverse set of populations. Although differences among various populations need to be considered by public health policy and practice, it is at least as important to consider and understand the urban population as a whole. Ultimately, properly informed public health policy and practice require a solid understanding of both the unique qualities of individual populations and the dynamics of the entire urban population as a composite of these interrelated groups.
The second section consists of a diverse set of chapters addressing methodologic strategies for the study of urban health. The key message in this section is the need for multidisciplinary research in order to provide useful information to guide policy and practice. Reading these chapters gives one a clear sense of the importance of developing a common language across disciplines and engendering collaboration and respect. Given the complexity of urban communities, the need for collaborative research is not surprising, but seeing the various perspectives of the disciplines back-to-back points out the need for skilled workers in interdisciplinary contexts.
In the last section, which focuses on public health practice in urban communities, the editors have completed the circle by providing examples of interventions that illustrate the importance of using good science to inform policy and practice, as well as the importance of offering frontline programs to guide research. This section further emphasizes the need for broad-based cross-disciplinary collaboration at the program level (in parallel with that at the research level) and the value of learning from best-practice models that provide promising strategies, given the extensive time and the complexities involved in measuring the long-term outcomes of these community-based interventions. This is an excellent book that could be useful for courses in urban health and as a resource for understanding urban health research, practice, and public policy.
Howard Spivak, M.D.
Tufts–New England Medical Center
Boston, MA 02111(Edited by Sandro Galea an)