bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Is there a one-to-one correspondence between ionospheric anomalies and large earthquakes along Longmenshan faults?
Authors: He L. M. , Wu L. X. , De Santis A. , Liu S. J. , Yang Y.
Published: February 2014

Abstract. On 12 May 2008, a destructive M8.0 earthquake struck Wenchuan County (31.0° N, 103.4° E) in the Longmenshan fault zone of southwestern China. Five years later, on 20 April 2013, another terrible M7.0 earthquake struck Lushan County (30.3° N, 103.0° E) in the same fault area, only 87 km away from the epicenter of the Wenchuan earthquake. In this paper, an integrated wavelet analysis methodology is proposed to detect and diagnose ionospheric total electron content (TEC) anomalies related to seismic activities. Analytic wavelet transform is used to detect ionospheric perturbations, and then cross-wavelet analysis is used to diagnose ionospheric anomalies by gaining further insights into the dynamic relationship between the anomaly variability of ionospheric TEC and geomagnetic indices for the same set of observations. The results show that a significant ionospheric disturbance occurred on 9 May 2008 above the forthcoming epicenter, 3 days prior to the Wenchuan earthquake. However, we did not observe an ionospheric anomaly over the epicenter of the Ya'an earthquake during the 1 month period before the shock. Finally, we discuss the possible interpretations of the different seismo-ionospheric effects for the two similar earthquakes.
Impact of human population density on fire frequency at the global scale
Authors: Knorr W. , Kaminski T. , Arneth A. , Weber U.
Published: February 2014

Abstract. Human impact on wildfires, a major earth system component, remains poorly understood. While local studies have found more fires close to settlements and roads, assimilated charcoal records and analyses of regional fire patterns from remote-sensing observations point to a decline in fire frequency with increasing human population. Here, we present a global analysis using three multi-year satellite-based burned-area products combined with a parameter estimation and uncertainty analysis with a non-linear model. We show that at the global scale, the impact of increasing population density is mainly to reduce fire frequency. Only for areas with up to 0.1 people per km2, we find that fire frequency increases by 10 to 20% relative to its value at no population. The results are robust against choice of burned-area data set, and indicate that at only very few places on earth, fire frequency is limited by human ignitions. Applying the results to historical population estimates results in a moderate but accelerating decline of global burned area by around 14% since 1800, with most of the decline since 1950.
A model of landslide triggering by transient pressure waves
Authors: Waswa G. W. , Lorentz S. A.
Published: February 2014

Abstract. Previous studies indicate that most rainfall-triggered shallow landslides are initiated by a spike in rainfall intensity, which does not usually occur at the beginning of a critical storm, within which the slide is triggered, but after several minutes (or hours) of the storm. The critical storm is also usually not positioned at the beginning of a rainfall season, but after several days of antecedent period. Rainfall triggers landslides via rapid increase in pore water pressure, commonly associated with the change in water content. Consequently, many hydrologic pressure wave models assume that rapid pore water pressure responses are as a result of rapid infiltration of rainwater. On the contrary, this paper argues that, based on the above timings of landslide occurrences and the knowledge that infiltration rate decays with the soil wetness, the rapid increase in pore water pressure that triggers shallow landslides is as a result of rapid introduction of additional energy into the tension saturated (or nearly saturated) zone by the intense rainfall at the ground surface, without infiltration. Antecedent and critical precipitations are significant in creating a tension saturated zone, necessary for rapid transmission of the introduced energy from the ground surface to the lower soil horizons during the critical storm. These arguments are supported by a newly proposed one-dimensional diffusion mathematical model, which, when solved for the appropriate boundary conditions, can yield pore water pressure at any time and depth of a tension-saturated soil profile, without infiltration. The newly proposed diffusion model is mathematically similar to Iverson's model (Iverson, 2000), except that the hydraulic diffusivity parameter in the latter is substituted with a newly proposed energy diffusivity coefficient in the former. A combination of the new diffusion model and the infinite slope model can predict the stability of a shallow slope as a result of transient pore water pressure.
Une temporalité qui va d’un écrit de 1920 à sa publication en 2009
Authors: Altounian Janine
Published: February 2014

L’article se propose d’illustrer, par un exemple personnel, la pertinence d’une gestation tributaire du temps — temps psychique, temps généalogique, temps historique des événements sociopolitiques — grâce auquel un écrit testamentaire de 1920 finit par trouver sa véritable destination dans une publication de 2009. Pour montrer comment exhumer une trace, faire entendre une voix, requiert plusieurs générations, il présente les différentes étapes que dut franchir le témoignage de déportation de Vahram Altounian, survivant du génocide arménien de 1915, jusqu’à sa parution en fac similé dans une édition universitaire au sein d’un ensemble d’élaborations dont il fut le référent pour sept récipiendaires : son traducteur, sa fille et cinq psychanalystes à l’écoute des traumas de l’Histoire.
L’après-coup, un bain de jouvence pour la psyché
Authors: Chervet Bernard
Published: February 2014

Une étude du procès de l’après-coup permet de discerner les temporalités qui coexistent au sein du psychisme. L’auteur propose d’examiner celles-ci à partir d’une séquence clinique qu’il confronte ensuite au processus de théorisation de Freud. Il replace ainsi le concept d’après-coup dans l’histoire de la métapsychologie. Sont rencontrées la régression temporelle, l’intemporalité, l’atemporalité du traumatique, ainsi que les opérations de substitution et de résolution, créatrices du passé, de l’avenir et du présent. En introduisant l’intemporalité des désirs inconscients, la doctrine du rêve nous renseigne sur le travail psychique en deux temps exigé par l’existence de l’atemporalité traumatique, ainsi que sur les capacités de régénérescence libidinale du rêve. Celui-ci s’avère remplir la fonction de bain de jouvence. La méthode psychanalytique reprend à son compte le travail très original de l’entre-deux-temps qu’est le travail de rêve, et l’inscrit en séance en tant que travail de transfert, afin de promouvoir l’effet thérapeutique escompté.
Caregiving and Race
Authors: Cox Carole
Published: February 2014

Caregiving is a rapidly increasing experience in society. The aging of the population and the significant increase in the numbers of persons requiring assistance in the community has had a dramatic impact on families that provide the majority of all assistance. As the older population becomes increasingly diverse, ethnicity and race have been found to be factors that can have a major impact on the caregiving experience. As dementia, and particularly Alzheimer's disease, has become a major health issue among the older population, much of the research on race and caregiving focuses on these family caregivers, whose involvement, stress, and demands increase with the progression of the disease.
Sex
Authors: Moore Lisa Jean
Published: February 2014

Sex is a term with multiple meanings depending on the contexts of its use. There are two primary definitions of sex, one referring to social identity grounded in biology and the other to what people do with themselves or each other. These definitions are considered to be related, but it is important to note that sex as both social marker and erotic behavior is a highly contested term. Depending on who is defining sex and for what purposes, explanations can be value‐laden to indicate that a behavior or body is “normal” or “abnormal.” Therefore, it is necessary to understand how sex is always and everywhere a socially constructed category.
Differential Vulnerability
Authors: Brown Robyn Lewis
Published: February 2014

The term
differential vulnerability
refers to a theoretical explanation for social status differences in the effects of exposure to social stressors.
Mental Health and Social Networks
Authors: Perry Brea L.
Published: February 2014

According to the social network perspective, the behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, and values of individuals are shaped through contact and communication with others. The structure of linkages between people in a network, the resources shared by network members, and the ideas and information flowing through networks are critical determinants of mental health. This entry describes social network theory and methodology and reviews major findings linking these to mental health and illness. Mechanisms underlying the effects of social networks and social ties on mental health outcomes are discussed, including social psychological and biological benefits of connectedness, social contagion and influence, as well as access to resources through social networks. In addition, the influence of mental illness on social networks is reviewed, citing the psychiatric perspective, social support processes, stigma and labeling, and caregiver burden.
Health Care Services, Cross‐Border
Authors: Lim Jeremy , Umareddy Indira
Published: February 2014

Cross‐border health care services comprise consumption of health services in a foreign country and provision of services across borders. While cross‐border health care services are strategically important, with both trade and social policy implications, data are sparse and much of the scientific literature remains anecdotal and opinion‐based. Benefits and costs exist for both receiving and delivering countries in terms of economic impact, human capital flows between public and private sectors and equity concerns. Policymakers need to attain a sophisticated appreciation of the complex interface between politics, economics, and health to enable prudent management of cross‐border health care services.
Mental Illness and the Media
Authors: Wahl Otto
Published: February 2014

This entry examines the depiction of mental illness in mass media, noting issues of concern, research findings, and areas where more investigation is needed.
Transcultural Psychiatry
Authors: Johansen Katrine Schepelern
Published: February 2014

Transcultural psychiatry means psychiatry across cultures. It can refer to one of two situations: either the migration of the Western psychiatric system to other areas of the world and its encounter with foreign cultures, people, and perceptions of illness and healing; or the growing presence of immigrants in Western countries, where the psychiatric system on its own territory meets patients with different perceptions of illness, healing, and the professional relationship between patient and doctor. The two dominant professions with an interest in transcultural psychiatry are psychiatry and anthropology and their interests in the field are very different from each other. Where psychiatry's primary interest has been in the universality of psychiatric disorders, anthropology's has been in the cultural particularity of deviance. Other areas of interest include the relationship between culture and psychiatric disorders, the possible existents of culture‐bound syndromes, and how culture can come to play a meaningful role in modern psychiatry.
Race and Health Disparities
Authors: Morton Patricia M. , Ferraro Kenneth F.
Published: February 2014

Inequalities in health exist along many dimensions, and racial health inequality is both substantial and pervasive in many nations. This entry focuses on notable differences in health across racial categories, reviewing disparities in morbidity, health behavior, health service use, and mortality. Macro and micro social forces are considered.
Professional Ecologies
Authors: Liu Sida
Published: February 2014

This entry introduces the ecological theory on professions, traces its sociological origin, and critically evaluates its usefulness.
Obesity and Gender
Authors: Dulin Keita Akilah
Published: February 2014

While obesity prevalence has increased worldwide, research shows that more women than men are obese. This gender difference suggests the need to examine obesity from a social science perspective. The specific objectives of this entry are: (1) to introduce social scientists to the definition of obesity and its measurement; (2) to determine gender patterns of obesity; and (3) to identify social science perspectives To accomplish the stated objectives, I conducted in‐depth literature reviews (search terms: gender, obesity, measurement, World Health Organization, International Obesity Task Force, children and obesity, adults and obesity) in PubMed and social science databases. Based on the international body mass index (BMI) criteria established by the World Health Organization, gendered patterns of obesity are evident among adults such that women are more likely to be obese. Among children and adolescents, there are few discernable or statistically significant differences in obesity prevalence. Public health perspectives often rely on individual health behaviors to explain gender differences which leave the macrolevel structures that contribute to gender differences in obesity understudied. In contrast, social science approaches examine gender socialization and social psychological theories to examine gender differences in obesity.
Epigenetics
Authors: Balmer Andrew S.
Published: February 2014

Epigenetics refers to the inheritance of changes in gene function that cannot be explained by changes in the sequence of DNA bases. One such explanation is through appeal to the methylation of bases in the DNA sequence, which appears to alter gene expression and thus phenotype. These kinds of non‐sequence changes to phenotype make up the “epigenome.” The epigenome is understood to be the moderating factor in gene–environment interactions. As such, it is of interest to a number of social sciences since it offers promise for interdisciplinary work on complex illness and behavior, but also represents a potential challenge to other explanatory frameworks. Arguments about the reductive nature of the epigenome and its contribution to the geneticization of health and illness are important to consider.
Social Anxiety Disorder and Shyness
Authors: Lane Christopher
Published: February 2014

Shyness and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) have much in common and may, in non‐extreme cases, be difficult to distinguish. While shyness is widespread but varies greatly in intensity and impairment, the prevalence rates for SAD have proven elastic and depend heavily on the threshold used to determine distress or impairment.
Professions and Professionalism
Authors: Saks Mike
Published: February 2014

This entry outlines the development of professions and professionalism in modern society. It then considers and evaluates the various theories of the professions which frame their interpretation – most notably, the trait and functionalist approach, symbolic interactionism, Marxism, Foucauldianism, neo‐Weberianism, and discourse analysis. The discussion concludes by examining a number of recent topical issues in the study of professions – including interprofessional interaction and the differential form that professions and professionalism can take at a societal level.
British National Health Service
Authors: Gabe Jonathan
Published: February 2014

The British National Health Service was the first health service in the world to offer health care free at the point of use. While this remains the case today, it has been changed dramatically in recent years as governments of different political persuasions have embraced neoliberal policies. Key changes have involved introducing “new public management,” marketizing the service, and altering the boundary between public and private health care. It is argued that while some of these changes have been beneficial, the decision to open up the NHS in England to corporate interests and rely on the market increases the chances that it will eventually be privatized, at the cost of providing care free at the point of need.
Whitehall Studies
Authors: Britton Annie
Published: February 2014

The Whitehall Studies are associated with the investigation of socioeconomic differences in health. The first study, set up in 1967, included 19,000 British Civil Service men. It showed that men in the lowest employment grades were more than twice as likely to die prematurely as men in the highest grades. Furthermore, these socioeconomic inequalities were not accounted for by differences in risk factors, such as smoking. The second Whitehall study was set up in 1985 with the explicit intention of examining reasons for the social gradient in health and disease in men and extending the research to include women. At baseline there were 10,308 civil servants aged 35–55 years. During more than 25 years follow‐up there have been repeated data collection phases including medical examinations and self‐completed questionnaires. The study has played a key role in advancing knowledge regarding the effects of social circumstances on health and the biological pathways by which they operate. Findings have had a major impact internationally on the understanding of, and on policies to address, social inequalities in health. The study now seeks to examine how previous and current circumstances affect health, physical and cognitive functioning, and quality of life in an aging cohort.
Palliative Care
Authors: Castra Michel
Published: February 2014

Palliative medicine was born out of a desire to rethink the circumstances around death and the care of patients dying in hospital. This new medical specialty has created a new medicalization of dying that reflects a real change of perspective in the relationship between medicine and end of life. It has established a new concept of dying and of the “good death” in which professionals play a central role.
Landscapes of Despair
Authors: Evans Joshua
Published: February 2014

“Landscapes of despair” is a metaphor coined by two geographers, Michael Dear and Jennifer Wolch, to describe the fate of formerly institutionalized populations living with serious mental illness as well as physical and intellectual disability in the community. “Landscapes of despair” are generally interpreted as the everyday worlds of homeless and precariously housed people living with serious mental and/or physical disability in conditions of extreme material deprivation who must navigate a fragmented landscape of threadbare community supports and negotiate increasingly punitive and paternalistic welfare policies in order to survive from one day to the next.
Stress and Acculturation
Authors: López‐Rocha Sandra Y.
Published: February 2014

Acculturative stress is part of a process leading to a psychological and sociocultural adaptation into a culture different from the one in which an individual was first socialized. Thus, from this perspective acculturative stress may indeed have a positive effect on individuals as it represents a source of constant learning and exposure to intercultural experiences. Nonetheless, it has been widely demonstrated that acculturative stress may negatively influence the individual's acculturation when it acts as an obstacle, representing a source of constant conflict and consequently diminishing the person's ability to adapt to the new culture. Acculturative stress as a concept has been associated with that of culture shock, although the former is often preferred. The study of acculturative stress encompasses factors such as migration motivation, individual attributes, sources of stress, and coping strategies. Further studies in this field focus on the description of the individual experience of adapting to living in a different culture and the adaptive strategies adopted by ethnocultural groups.
Family Caregivers: Drug Rehabilitation
Authors: Smith Jane Ellen , Campos‐Melady Marita , Crotwell Shirley M.
Published: February 2014

Substance abuse creates a host of psychological and social problems for the family members and friends of individuals with alcohol and drug problems. To further complicate the issue, substance‐abusing individuals are notoriously resistant to seeking treatment. The concerned significant others (CSOs) of these individuals have not had many resources to address their concerns over the years. Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) is a research‐based behavioral program that works through the CSOs of treatment‐refusing substance abusers to get those individuals to enter treatment. CRAFT also helps CSOs improve their own functioning. This entry provides an overview of the CRAFT program and presents its solid scientific support.
Mental Health Geographies
Authors: Lowe James , DeVerteuil Geoffrey , Moon Graham
Published: February 2014

Geography has firmly embedded its distinctive conceptual tools of space, place, and scale into the broader mental health research map. These geographies of mental health have used varying scales to investigate the interactions and relationships between particular places (especially urban ones), different types of spaces, and the onset and duration of, and recovery from, mental illness.
Domestic Violence
Authors: Bell Kathryn M.
Published: February 2014

Domestic violence, often referred to as intimate partner violence (IPV), is characterized by aggression perpetrated against an intimate partner. IPV rates against female victims vary worldwide. Meta‐analyses from studies primarily conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom note few gender differences in rates of IPV perpetration and victimization. A cross‐cultural analysis of gender differences in rates of physical IPV perpetration, however, suggests that rates of female IPV perpetration vary depending on ethnicity and certain cultural characteristics. The physical and psychological effects of IPV are numerous. Individuals physically assaulted by an intimate partner are at significant risk of being injured or killed as a result of the violence. Early theories on the causes of IPV often emphasized single causal mechanisms, such as intergenerational transmission of violence or traditional sex‐role attitudes condoning or normalizing violence against women. More contemporary theories propose that the causes of IPV are multifaceted and are influenced by a combination of historical, societal, dynamic, relational, and environmental factors. Continued research targeted at better understanding of how IPV develops is needed in order to refine existing IPV prevention and treatment programs, improve screening efforts, and enhance responsiveness to IPV cases worldwide.
Mental Illness, Geneticization of
Authors: Perry Brea L.
Published: February 2014

Geneticization has roots in broader theories of medicalization, and is an ongoing process characterized by three increasingly prevalent trends: (1) individual variation is reduced to genotype differences; (2) physical, emotional, and behavioral differences are seen as having genetic causes; and (3) genetic tests and technologies are employed to manage problems. This entry describes key theoretical arguments of this perspective and reviews empirical findings from media studies and public opinion research that provide evidence for geneticization. In addition, the consequences of geneticization for public attitudes toward mental illness are examined, highlighting the apparently misguided hope that advocating genetic causal attributions would increase treatment seeking and reduce stigma and desire for social distance. Finally, this entry considers implications of geneticization for social science perspectives and for resource allocation in mental health research and practice.
Indigenous Health
Authors: Wilson Kathi , Snyder Marcie , Richmond Chantelle
Published: February 2014

Globally, there are almost 400 million indigenous people representing 5 percent of the world's total population. While indigenous populations throughout the world are very distinct, they share one important commonality: pervasive health inequalities that are reflective of colonial and neocolonial policies and practices. In this entry we provide an overview of indigenous health and social determinants of health with a particular focus on their links to colonialism. We point to the challenges of improving indigenous health in the face of complexly intertwined social, cultural, historical, and economic factors as well as the increasing mobility and urbanization of the global indigenous population. We also point to the importance of indigenous research methods as one way of moving away from the colonial project, and identify key areas of future research.
Health Services Utilization among Heart Disease Patients
Authors: O'Neil Adrienne
Published: February 2014

Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation that all patients attend a rehabilitation program after a cardiac event, uptake is low. Patients experiencing depression are even less likely to use health services, thus elevating their risk of a recurrent event. This entry reviews the evidence of existing depression management programs for cardiac patients. The implications of treatment on health service utilization in this population are discussed.
Race and Place
Authors: Fitzpatrick Kevin M. , Willis Don
Published: February 2014

The nexus of race and place continues to impact population health around the world; their interaction within the boundaries of the United States has been an important part of both US health history and the history of racial and ethnic relationships. Health consequences, for many racial and ethnic groups, is not a story about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but rather a function of the way in which social resources are spatially allocated and constrained by social forces. Segregation is a powerful force that has altered the face of metropolitan areas throughout the United States. Even now, nearly 50 years since the Civil Rights Act was passed, the United States remains a nation physically divided with major disparities in health. These inequalities of health are partly determined by the physical distribution of health care delivery and how access is divided along socially constructed racial and ethnic lines. Regardless, segregation, whether exacerbated or moderated through the concentration of poverty, socioeconomic attainment, and/or a declining physical environment, has increased negative health outcomes among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States.
Social Support and Illness
Authors: Lai Gina
Published: February 2014

It is well documented that social support protects an individual from the health‐damaging effects of illnesses and enhances health. Social support is defined as the functions performed for an individual by social ties with the intention to bring beneficial consequences – for example, emotional sustenance, information provision, and instrumental assistance. It has been operationalized in various ways, including perceived support, enacted support, expressive support, instrumental support, routine support, and crisis support. Social relationships are the structural carriers of supportive resources and considered as the structural aspect of social support. Three aspects of support structure have been examined, including social integration, social networks, and confiding relationships. These three aspects constitute a hierarchically structured environment that influences the provision of different types of support functions. The health benefits of social relationships are largely mediated by support functions. While social relationships are the conduits of supportive resources, the negative health impacts of social ties are also observed. Further, access to social support and its health effects are found to vary across social groups, subsequently contributing to health inequalities. A recent development in social support research is a call for attention to the mechanisms linking between social support and health outcomes.
Heart Disease Prevention Services, Utilization of
Authors: McNaughton Rebekah , Shucksmith Janet
Published: February 2014

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most common cause of premature death and disability worldwide. Of the 57 million deaths worldwide in 2008, 17 million (30 percent) were attributed to CVD. Globally, mortality from CVD is felt disproportionately with 80 percent of all CVD‐related deaths occurring in low‐ and middle‐income countries. A large number of these deaths could be preventable through the modification of behavioral risk factors such as healthy eating, physical activity, tobacco and alcohol use, and through the identification and management of underlying physiological conditions such as increased blood pressure and cholesterol. The World Health Organization calls for a global response to this situation through a mix of population and individual‐level intervention.
Interprofessional Education
Authors: Barr Hugh
Published: February 2014

Interprofessional education is the means by which health and social care professions learn with, from, and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care for individuals, families, and communities. It may be built into two or more pre‐licensure courses for different professions, or during continuing interprofessional education, employing a repertoire of face‐to‐face and e‐enhanced interactive learning methods in the classroom or during practice placements.
Mental Health and Immigrant Status
Authors: Gong Fang , Takeuchi David T.
Published: February 2014

Immigrant status in the United States includes multiple dimensions, commonly measured by nativity, age at time of immigration, length of residence, generational status, English‐language proficiency, and level of acculturation. Early community studies and recent national studies in general have found that various immigrant groups have significantly lower rates of mental health problems than their US‐born counterparts and/or non‐Hispanic whites, but the associations between various measures of immigrant status and mental health tend to vary with different racial/ethnic groups, gender, and the age of arrival. The mental health of immigrants can be understood from positive selection, cultural buffering, negative assimilation, and cultural expressions of diseases. Finally, we suggest a few avenues for future research including collecting longitudinal data to track changes of mental health, incorporating more nuanced measures of acculturation, attending to the unique cultural and psychosocial characteristics and contexts, and more fully embracing the life course perspective.
Preventive Health Behavior: Conceptual Approaches
Authors: Noar Seth M. , Head Katharine J.
Published: February 2014

A variety of conceptual approaches to understanding health behavior exist. While an individual's health behavior is likely the product of numerous levels of influence, including interpersonal, group, community, and institutional/policy levels, much theory and research have focused on understanding health behavior at the individual level. In this realm, there are a variety of behavioral theories that advance our understanding of what motivates people to engage in healthy and unhealthy behaviors. These theories vary, and can be grouped according to value‐expectancy approaches, risk‐oriented theories, social cognitive theory, and stage theories.
Socialist Medicine
Authors: Field Mark G. , Cockerham William C.
Published: February 2014

The term “socialist medicine” applies to a health care delivery system that is government‐owned and ‐operated, and designed to provide preventive, diagnostic, clinical, rehabilitative, educational, and custodial services to a designated population free of charge at the time of the service. Services are paid for out of the state's budget. The prototype of socialist medicine was developed in the former Soviet Union and is often referred to as Soviet socialized medicine. This type of health care system has generally disappeared and exists today only in Cuba.
Mental Health Treatment, History of
Authors: Menzies Robert
Published: February 2014

From antiquity to the present, humanity has been preoccupied with experiences of mental diversity and distress, and with attendant questions about how to tame and repair the wayward mentalities of the “mad,” or “insane,” or “mentally ill.” Historians have chronicled a litany of scientific and cultural approaches, spanning the millennia, to the regulation and treatment of human distress – from the violent purging of demonic possession in the classical and medieval worlds; through the Enlightenment's embrace of the asylum as the archetype of all things rational; to the rise of moral treatment in nineteenth‐century Europe and the Americas; to the somber era of eugenics and somatic intervention that prevailed through to World War II; to a spate of radical developments over recent decades epitomized by the ascendancy of the psychopharmaceutical industry, the demise of the segregative mental institution, and the advent of grassroots recovery movements offering humanistic alternatives to the dominant biomedical paradigm of mental health treatment.
Immigrant Health
Authors: Dyck Isabel , Dossa Parin
Published: February 2014

The complex links between migration, culture, health, and place are signaled through scholarship employing various theoretical lenses and methodologies. Immigrants come from different geographic, social and religious backgrounds and therefore the theoretical constructs of place and situated local knowledge are crucial for the study of immigrant health. Geographical and social dislocations accompanying migration are experienced and responded to in the context of particular places and sets of social relations forged through interlocking scales – local, national, and global. Qualitative research gives central space to the stories of (im)migrants. There is evidence of vulnerability and inequality arising either from economically disadvantaged status and/or a discourse on “othering,” and an observed fluidity of identities and culture. Four key, interweaving, themes relate to immigrant health: first, the bodily inscription of immigrants and refugees in terms of citizenship and related access to health services in the receiving country; second, the situatedness of health ideas and practices in sets of local conditions and relationships; third, addressing “culture” in health care practice; and fourth, advocacy/engaged research that interrogates the construct “immigrant health” to foreground pluralistic and transnational models of care. Common in these themes is resistance to a polarizing of structure/political economy and agency in explanation.
Social Causation and Social Selection
Authors: Mossakowski Krysia N.
Published: February 2014

An extensive literature has shown that disadvantaged levels of socioeconomic status are associated with mental illness. Yet an important question continues to stimulate research: What is the direction of the relationship between socioeconomic status and mental illness? This question is addressed by two competing hypotheses. The social causation hypothesis asserts that experiencing economic hardship increases the risk of subsequent mental illness. The selection/drift hypothesis posits that mental illness can inhibit socioeconomic attainment and lead people to drift into the lower social class or never escape poverty. Research suggests there is a reciprocal relationship between socioeconomic status and mental health, although social causation has more evidence. Furthermore, longitudinal studies have demonstrated that the strength and direction of the relationship can vary by the type of mental illness and socioeconomic indicator. Overall, both social causation and selection/drift are important in advancing our understanding of the influence of social inequality on people's lives.
Labor Markets of Health Professions
Authors: de Grip Andries
Published: February 2014

Labor markets of health professions are professional labor markets that are legally protected by the requirement of a clearly defined educational background in order to deliver an adequate performance. Because of the restricted career opportunities in professional labor markets, health professionals are usually employed in the same kinds of job throughout their entire career. However, graduates of medical and nursing schools do have options outside of health care, in several other jobs that require more general skills. Therefore, the number of graduates of medical and nursing schools should exceed labor demand in the related health profession. There is also an upward trend in labor demand driven by continuous improvements in medical and technical sciences as well as the related aging of the population. Health professionals therefore face an increasing pressure to improve their productivity. Moreover, the competences acquired during initial education become obsolete in due course because of the rapid technological and organizational innovations in the health sector. This means that in order to remain a proficient professional during an entire career, lifelong learning is crucial. Moreover, health professionals need to develop adequate communication skills to be able to deal with different kinds of clients and to improve their ability to work in teams.
Involuntary Commitment
Authors: Scheid Teresa L.
Published: February 2014

Involuntary commitment is generally referred to as involuntary “civil” commitment, to differentiate this form of commitment from “criminal” commitment, and refers to court‐ordered treatment either to a hospital or to mental health treatment in a jail, prison, or outpatient setting. Involuntary commitment continues to raise a number of ethical issues and is still hotly debated in the literature.
Health Care Delivery System: United States
Authors: Budrys Grace
Published: February 2014

The structure of the health care system in the United States has evolved in response to shifts in concern about one of several competing issues. From the early years of the twentieth century, quality of care was the main concern until the onset of the Great Depression, which brought access to care to the top of the list. With the emergence of health insurance during the middle decades of the twentieth century more people gained access to care. Increased utilization of health care services plus the sudden increase in development of highly sophisticated diagnostic equipment meant that the cost of care started to rise at an unprecedented rate. By the later decades of the twentieth century the health care system was finding it difficult to balance three basic objectives, namely: quality, access, and cost containment.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Usage and Race
Authors: Wasserman Jason Adam
Published: February 2014

This entry highlights the relationship between complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and race/ethnicity. The sociohistorical trajectory of the intersection of CAM use and race/ethnicity engages issues of culture and racism, as well as the important and changing relationship between class and health in an increasingly complex sociological environment. This entry explores the historical disparities in CAM use among African Americans and the shift in the status of CAM from a refuge of the disfranchised to a symbol of privilege in contemporary health.
Health Geography
Authors: Andrews Gavin J.
Published: February 2014

This entry reviews the development of health geography: the emerging empirical, theoretical, and methodological interests of the subdiscipline since the early 1990s. Although it notes how many of these are academically motivated, it finishes with a review of some of the fundamental geographical changes that have occurred “out there” in the worlds of health and health care that have equally encouraged changes in scholarship.
Asylum and Post‐Asylum Geographies of Psychiatric Health Care
Authors: Moon Graham
Published: February 2014

Asylum and post‐asylum geographies are the geographies that emerged before and after the closure of large‐scale residential asylums for people with various health problems. The term is generally taken to refer to the location and use of health care facilities for people with mental health problems but can also refer to provision for people with learning difficulties physical handicaps, or substance misuse problems. More rarely the term references isolation facilities for infectious disease treatment, notably tuberculosis sanatoria. The focus here is on mental health.
Gene
Authors: Balmer Andrew S.
Published: February 2014

This entry provides a brief overview of the history of the “gene” and its emergence in the central dogma of molecular biology. It then provides a context of social, ethical and political implications that have proven important in understanding the contemporary significance of the gene.
Medical Uncertainty
Authors: Alderson Priscilla
Published: February 2014

Medical uncertainty exists in many forms and contexts. This entry reviews doctors’ approaches to medical uncertainty, then looks at the responses of patients and their families. The final section considers broader social and political aspects, and the conflict that is at the heart of medical uncertainty.
Somatization
Authors: Kohrt Brandon A.
Published: February 2014

Somatization historically has referred to the physical presentation of psychological distress. Somatization has been an area of interest to anthropologists and cross‐cultural psychiatrists because of prior claims that somatization was more common in non‐Western cultural groups. However, some studies have suggested that somatic differences across cultural groups are overstated. Instead, somatic symptoms are a universal component of depression, present worldwide in both Western and non‐Western communities. One reason for differences across settings in rates of somatization may be variation in local health problems and access to biomedical diagnostic and treatment resources. Despite the number of studies that have addressed this issue when studying patient populations from Western cultures, less attention has been given to the issue of physical pathology presenting as psychiatric pathology in non‐Western samples. More recent cross‐cultural psychiatric approaches have advocated for addressing physical symptom presentation of psychiatric populations within the context of local healthy populations; understanding the influence of the local burden of physiological diseases on somatic presentation of mental illness; documenting how psychological idioms of distress may be linguistically translated as physical complaints; and placing somatic complaints within the context of cultural variation in concepts of mind–body.
Mental Health Preventive Services, Utilization of
Authors: Gary Elizabeth , Olafsdottir Sigrun
Published: February 2014

This entry focuses on the use of preventive mental health services. Preventive mental health services are used prior to the onset of a mental illness in an effort to eliminate and reduce the burden of these types of illness. Since the 1980s, the development of these services has grown alongside major advances in the scientific understanding of the brain, and has primarily consisted of research on potential biomedical treatments with the hope that they may prevent future episodes of an already diagnosed illness.
Health and Economic Stress
Authors: Simoni Zachary
Published: February 2014

Sociological literature has noted the impact of economic disparities and their connection to both physical and mental health. Sociologists employ a number of measures of socioeconomic status including income, education, occupational prestige, wealth, and debt. Chronic economic stress – including living in poverty or with very low socioeconomic status – may lead to decreased health and quality of life among members of society. Acute problems like residential precariousness, debt, and job loss are also associated with poor mental and physical health. As a discipline, sociology offers a number of theoretical explanations for the connection between economic stress and health.
Health Campaigns
Authors: Kreps Gary L.
Published: February 2014

Effective health campaigns are carefully planned, evidence‐based, and theoretically grounded communication programs designed to influence health beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of key audiences for promoting public health. Health campaigns involve a broad set of communication strategies and activities to disseminate relevant information to promote resistance to health threats. Health campaigns have been designed to educate the public about important health threats and risky behaviors in order to raise public consciousness about such issues and to move audiences to action in support of public health. For example, communication campaigns often encourage specific audiences to resist serious health threats, adopt healthy lifestyles, avoid dangerous situations and substances, engage in early detection for health problems, and seek appropriate health care services when needed.

The best health campaigns are guided by rigorously conducted needs analysis and audience analysis research. Health campaigns are also guided by relevant theory about how communication can influence health behaviors. Health campaigns use a variety of different communication channels and media to convey campaign messages based upon the communication preferences and utilization patterns of key audiences. Effective health campaigns refine strategic health promotion messages so they are meaningful and influential with key audiences.
Epidemics
Authors: Hoffman Lily M.
Published: February 2014

The meaning of “epidemic” has broadened over time to include non‐infectious disease and health‐related behavior. The impetus to renewed interest has been the resurgence of infectious disease and concern with bioterrorism. Current approaches take into account the complex relationship between elements of the social, political, and ecological system within which an epidemic may emerge, spread, and/or be contained. They are accordingly multidisciplinary. Several thematic and analytic concerns dominate the empirical and analytic literature: risk and uncertainty, globalization and governance, collective behavior and disasters. Multidisciplinary scholars and practitioners have overlapping interests and draw upon similar concepts; there is a need for more cross‐disciplinary dialogue.
Medical Education, Competency‐Based
Authors: ten Cate Olle
Published: February 2014

Since the turn of the twenty‐first century, competency‐based medical education (CBME) has become a dominant approach to postgraduate medical education in many countries, and is gradually becoming popular in undergraduate medical education. CBME has a history dating back half a century and is rooted in general educational approaches such as outcome‐based education and mastery learning. Despite controversies around the terminology and the CBME approach, important national medical regulatory bodies in Canada, the United States, and other countries have embraced CBME. CBME can be characterized as having two distinct features: a focus on specific domains of competence, and a relative independence of time in training, making it an individualized approach that is particularly applicable in workplace training. It is not the length of training that determines a person's readiness for unsupervised practice, but the attained competence or competencies. This shift in focus makes CBME different from traditional training. In this entry, definitions of CBME and related concept are detailed.