bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Medical Systems and Practices
Authors: Oldani Michael J. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Globalization presents unique challenges for fully understanding the myriad medical systems and practices in operation today. Medical ethnography continues to play an important role, descriptively and theoretically, in fully articulating the range of modern and alternative systems, practices, and treatments available to patients. Unique methodologies are necessary in order to capture the increasingly hybrid manifestation of medical systems/practices and the ways in which global health care infrastructures are being impacted by neoliberal reforms as well as powerful market forces. The ethnographic study of pharmaceuticals presents a paradigmatic example and methodology of how to critically examine systems/practices in the current global context.
Cancer
Authors: Wei‐Yen Lim 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Lifestyle modifications by the individual can play a significant role in lowering the risk of cancer, and up to one‐third of all cancers are preventable. Such modifications include abstention from smoking and alcohol, adopting a healthy diet composed mostly of plant‐based food such as unprocessed cereals and grains, non‐starchy vegetables and fruits, and low in red and processed meats, and increasing levels of physical activity. The key challenge facing public health practitioners today is to develop effective strategies that encourage healthy behaviors. Practitioners need to work with professionals and researchers in the related fields of sociology, anthropology, and social science in order to better understand the complexities of human behavior and the influence of the physical and sociocultural environment on behavior, so that they can design more effective public health strategies to promote healthy lifestyles
Geographies of HIV/AIDS
Authors: Reid‐Henry S. M. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractHIV/AIDS has often been described as a disease of the age of globalization. It is also understood as a disease of inequality because it effects the most vulnerable and is readily entrenched within niches of social, economic, and political vulnerability. There are therefore clear geographical dimensions to the disease. This entry explores three principle moments in the history of geographical thinking about HIV/AIDS: initial attempts to map the spread of the virus and the geographical critique of these efforts; a set of more political (and at times policy‐attuned) analyses of the experience of living with and responding to HIV; and a recent body of work on the political geographies of HIV/AIDS as a global health issue.
Environmental Health Geography
Authors: Luginaah Isaac N. , Oiamo Tor H. , Armah Frederick A. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Environmental health geography is the study of how local environments are involved in experiences of health disparities, vulnerabilities, and systematic inequalities within population health. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, environmental health geographers have been involved in work that examines the geography and diffusion of infectious diseases and epidemics, environmental exposure analysis and other environmental influences on health, environmental justice, environmental dispossession, and neighborhood effects. Environmental health geographers also study the place‐specific aspects of access and utilization health services, and how all these relate to and inform environmental health policy.
Phenomenology
Authors: Purcell Carrie 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Phenomenology is concerned with the structures of human consciousness; the “lived experience” of the everyday world (or “lifeworld”); and individual meaning‐making within that world. Phenomenological perspectives – such as those influenced by the theories of Alfred Schutz and Maurice Merleau‐Ponty – aim to set aside presuppositions about the intersubjectively constituted social world in order to examine and contextualize first‐person experience as accounted for in individuals’ own words. Key phenomenological contributions to understandings of health and illness include accounts of pain and the “dys‐appearing” body, and a range of feminist critiques of normative embodiment and health care.
ICT and Stress
Authors: Berkowsky Ronald W. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
With the growth in popularity and availability of information and communication technologies (ICTs), there has been a move toward a new Internet‐influenced social environment, in which individuals are becoming increasingly embedded in an online social network that offers more relationships and resources which can be utilized to combat social‐, economic‐, and information‐based problems. Yet with this move toward a new technology‐centered social network comes a host of issues as well: individuals become socially obligated to devote time and energy to learning and mastering new technologies to remain “plugged in” to the evolving social network. In addition, being constantly available to social contacts through ICTs has the potential to increase workloads, as increased communication through ICTs can help dissolve typical boundaries between work and home, as well as between public and private life, thus forcing individuals to engage in work activities while with family and vice versa. As such, Internet connectivity and ICT use have the potential to contribute significantly to stress in both a positive and a negative fashion, which in turn can affect health.
Adolescence
Authors: Breton David Le 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThe etymology of the term “adolescence” invokes notions of growth, transformation, and evolution. The period of adolescence extends from the transformations of puberty to full entry into adult life. It is an intermediary stage – the period of life when a young person is no longer a child and is no longer perceived as such, but does not yet possess all the privileges of an adult. The adolescent must become an actor and partner in the world of others, and do so with a sexual identity. The characterization of adolescence depends on the way a collective perceives the young person during their sexual maturation and progressive entrance into the responsibilities of adulthood within the group. Young people are granted a particular status in relation to sexuality and social responsibilities according to their gender. All human societies define an intervening period between childhood and adulthood. For certain societies the passage toward adult responsibilities is imperceptible, and takes place without ritual mobilization. In other societies this passage is carefully marked by initiation rites, which are a necessary sign of the young person becoming an adult man or woman through a series of stages determined by tradition.
Gender, Stress, and Health
Authors: O'Neal LaToya J. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThe relationship between gender, stress, and health is characterized by differential health outcomes resulting from the different ways in which stress impacts men and women. Successful navigation of the social environment requires individuals to adapt to continually changing stimuli. Stress impacts health by impairing an individual's ability to adapt. Impairments in the ability to adapt may result in significant challenges to mental and physical well‐being in the form of psychological distress and/or the development of chronic disease. Men and women are often exposed to different types of stressors and different levels of stress, and tend to respond differently to stress. This results in varying health outcomes. Inquiries into the relationship between gender, stress, and health have increased understanding of the processes by which adaptability is compromised. Gender is one of the major ways in which individuals organize their lives, and most people fail to realize its strong influence on social life.
Embodiment
Authors: Davis Jenny L. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract

One does not
have
a body; one
is
a body. Embodiment refers to the cultural, social, physical, psychic, and experiential nature of being a body. Theorists take several different approaches in defining embodiment, sometimes integrating the physical, mental, and cultural, and at other times falsely dichotomizing embodiment's complex interrelated components. The body is a site of pleasure, pain, difference, and politics simultaneously. The body is agentic and lived, yet inscribed upon. Social actors both negotiate embodiment and take embodiment – their own and others’ – for granted. Embodiment is affected by the technologies of the time, from language to medicine, to present‐day integrations with mechanical and digital objects.
Surveillance
Authors: Harris Karen 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
The definition of surveillance has changed throughout history, and has always been part of social systems. Surveillance literally meant to watch over or to watch from above. However, as society and technologies have developed and improved, the definition of surveillance has expanded to include information gathering on everyone, not just those suspected of wrong‐doing. Surveillance has become invisible, commonplace, and internalized, resulting in a surveillance lifestyle. Data are collected on everyone, everyday, from many different sources, including the Internet. Sociological surveillance is interested in the analysis of aggregate data collected, not in individual data. Using aggregate data in public health can help society by identifying patterns of disease and illness, by helping guide policy in public health crises, and by determining illness and health behaviors.
Place, Stress, and Health
Authors: Winstead Vicki 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Place is a multidimensional concept which can be defined geographically as well as by its social characteristics. Its geographical definition references its unique spatial attributes as distinct from the other surrounding spaces. However, places are varied by the environments by which they are surrounded which can differ politically, socially, culturally, and economically. Over time, the importance of place as an influence on physical and mental health has been recognized by social scientists. However, research in this area in the social sciences was sporadic until the late 1980s with much of the research literature limited to examining determinants of health at the individual level rather than examining structural influences on health that are place‐based. Since then researchers have found that place of residence of an individual can impact both the physical and mental health of that individual. The context of place references both the physical context of where a person lives as well as its social and cultural characteristics. So, rather than considering only individual level characteristics as determinants of health, researchers in fields such as sociology began to focus more on social determinants such as place of residence.
Substance Abuse and Adolescent Psychological Distress
Authors: Page Randy M. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Psychosocial distress has been linked to adolescent smoking, as well as to the use of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and opiates. Depression, the most commonly studied form of distress, has been shown to be a predictor of smoking initiation and possibly associated with nicotine dependence in adolescents. Other indicators of psychosocial distress that have been studied in connection with adolescent drug use include hopelessness, loneliness, anxiety, subjective worrying, and the lack of affiliation with friends or social acceptance.
Health and Physical Activity
Authors: Lim Chin Leong 
Published: February 2014

AbstractRegular exposure to the appropriate volume of stresses imposed by physical activity (PA) induces psychophysiological responses that promote health and well‐being. In contrast, the absence of regular PA‐related stress exposure promotes the development of conditions that can be detrimental to health. Research evidence consistently supports the notion that an active lifestyle is beneficial to health, and, in contrast, that a sedentary lifestyle contributes to the development of common diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). People who participate in regular PA have a lower all‐cause mortality rate and lower mortality rates associated with lifestyle‐related diseases, such as CVD and DM. This inverse relationship between regular PA and mortality rates is likely due to a better state of the common health indicators, such as blood pressure, blood lipid profile, glucose tolerance, and body mass, which are commonly reported in active individuals. PA also promotes mental well‐being by increasing self‐confidence, mood state, and mental resilience. Senior citizens who maintain an active lifestyle enjoy a better quality of life as a result of greater physical functional capabilities in their daily living activities compared to age‐ and sex‐matched sedentary senior citizens.
Deviance
Authors: Stringer Kristi Lynn 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
The sociology of deviance examines cultural norms, their change over time, rule/norm enforcement (formal and informal), and the effects of social control on individuals and society as a whole. Deviance, in general, refers to attitudes, behaviors, or conditions which do not conform to socially constructed ideas of normality. Deviance refers to a departure from a norm. Because deviance is defined against social norms which vary across time and space, ideas of deviance also vary social situations, cultures, and time periods. The concept of deviance, by its very nature, entails a value judgment: something that is normatively accepted is judged to be “good” and desired, whereas something that is considered “bad” or undesirable is labeled as deviant.
Schizophrenia
Authors: Doubt Keith 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Schizophrenia affects 1 percent of the world's population. It is not, as popular culture sometimes understands it to be, the actually rare phenomenon of split personality; nor is it now viewed by clinical psychologists, as it once was by some, as a person's creative, desperate response to an untenable family situation. Today, most medical researchers, physicians, and advocates in organizations such as National Alliance for the Mentally Ill view schizophrenia as a complex, physical pathology, a disease of the brain.
Spatial Epidemiology
Authors: Cockings Samantha , Shelton Nicola 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Spatial epidemiology (or geographical epidemiology) is a subdiscipline of epidemiology and part of the subdiscipline of health geography. Epidemiology is concerned with the study of population health and disease. Spatial epidemiology focuses specifically on the spatial components of this to understand and explain why health and disease vary by place. Classic examples of its use would be modeling levels of leukemia close to a radioactive point source or, historically, the mapping of cholera deaths. Definitions of approaches to spatial epidemiology vary, but usually include disease mapping, geographical correlation studies (also termed ecological studies), risk assessment in relation to a point or line source, and cluster detection and disease clustering
Medicine, Sociology in
Authors: Usher Carey L. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
“Sociology in medicine” is a label first used by Robert Straus in 1957 to distinguish the work of the medical sociologist, which is based on goals, setting, and disciplinary context. Sociology in medicine is applied work motivated by the goals of the medical establishment rather than by those of sociological inquiry. The sociologist in medicine typically works within the medical system with other health practitioners, using a foundation of sociological knowledge to study health and illness or medical issues. Sociology in medicine has been criticized for straying too far from the parent discipline.
Pain
Authors: Meldrum Marcia L. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractChronic pain is probably the most common cause of recurrent and permanent disability in the world today. The second half of the twentieth century saw a great expansion of research into, and clinical interest in, the problem of pain, led by the International Association for the Study of Pain, but there is still no definitive and uniformly effective treatment for chronic pain, and many patients continue to suffer without relief.
Alcohol
Authors: Anderson Peter 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Alcohol, or more specifically ethanol, is a toxic, intoxicating, and dependence‐producing drug that is consumed by just over half the global adult population. It is estimated that in 2010 it caused 2.7 million deaths, a one‐third increase in the number of deaths since 1990. It ranks as the world's fifth cause of ill‐health and premature death after hypertension, tobacco, household air pollution, and a diet low in fruits. It is a teratogen, a neurotoxin, and a carcinogen. The world's average drinker consumes 24 g of alcohol a day, a dose that exceeds a toxicological threshold for such a toxin by some 500 times. Yet it is a product that carries no health warnings and is the only such drug not covered by an international treaty.
Race and Distrust of Medicine
Authors: Wasserman Jason Adam 
Published: February 2014

AbstractAs a social institution, medicine has historically tended to reflect the biases of the various social contexts in which it is based. In fact, the social history of medicine documents its sometimes very active role in the utilization of race as a fulcrum of social oppression. The result of this long‐standing social discrimination against racial minorities is an often palpable distrust among them of social institutions in general, and of medicine in particular. This entry examines the causes and consequences of a distrust of medicine that is rooted in social structures of race and discrimination.
Feminism
Authors: Cacchioni Thea 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
“Feminism” is an evolving term encompassing a range of intellectual and social movements dedicated to exposing and challenging sexism and intersecting forms of oppression. Whereas the first “wave” of Western feminism was dominated by white middle‐class women's struggle for access to education, suffrage, personhood, citizenship, and property rights, feminisms have evolved over time to address a wide array of social, economic, and political agendas as defined by a diversity of women. Contemporary feminisms tend to reject binary and universal theories of women and gender, and instead address issues of race, class, ethnicity, nation, and sexuality in local and global contexts. As reflected in phrases such as “The personal is political,” feminist scholars and activists have long politicized patriarchal and racist definitions of health and illness, the commodification of health, barriers to health care access and reproductive control, and the social determinants of health and wellness.
Homelessness and Health Care
Authors: Kertesz Stefan G. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThe serious health care challenges associated with homelessness are underscored by high mortality rates and frequent use of hospital care. Some health challenges are intimately associated with being homeless, including exposure to extremes of weather, and trauma from assault. More often, however, homeless persons face problems common to all adults, such as hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. However, these problems are harder to manage without a stable residence. Mental illness and substance use disorders are also common and often contribute to homelessness. Homelessness is associated with a greater likelihood of health care needs going unmet, in part because a regular source of outpatient care is often lacking. Intervening problems are often managed emergently, at high cost, through hospital emergency visits and inpatient admissions. Unique services have evolved to address challenges in homeless health care, including medical respite programs for recuperative care, and primary care clinics tailored to a homeless clientele. The provision of supportive housing through the Housing First approach has been successful in enabling people to escape homelessness while reducing health system costs. Whether these interventions can actually improve health while reducing total costs to society is likely to vary depending on both the individuals being served and the community context.
Homelessness, Stigma, and Health
Authors: Pauly Bernadette 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Homelessness is a form of extreme poverty characterized by poor health, barriers to accessing health care, and premature death. Homelessness is associated with multiple stigmatized and interlocking identities associated with poverty; substance use and mental illness; disease conditions such as addiction and HIV/AIDS; as well as structural discrimination related to class, gender, age, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. Stigma and discrimination contribute to poor health and the social exclusion of people experiencing poverty and homelessness. Intersectionality is an approach that highlights how multiple identities and structural conditions form interlocking systems of oppression and privilege which benefit some and disadvantage others. Recognizing both constructed and taken‐for‐granted identities highlights the way in which people are positioned in society, especially in relation to policies that constrain choices, structure experiences, and provide access to resources for health and well‐being. Recognizing and challenging multiple constructed identifies and shifting power balances to enhance the social inclusion of people experiencing homelessness is central to addressing the multiple stigmas of homelessness. Structural and systemic discrimination derive from policies that are implicated in the development of homelessness; an understanding of these shifts the responsibility for solving homelessness from individuals to the society in which they live.
Health
Authors: Cockerham William C. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
There is no single, all‐purpose definition of health that fits all circumstances. However, there are many concepts about it, such as normality, the absence of disease, or the ability to function. One of the most often cited definitions is that of the World Health Organization, which regards health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well‐being, and not merely as the absence of disease or injury. This definition calls attention to the fact that being healthy involves much more than simply determining if a person is ill or injured. Being healthy also means having a sense of well‐being.
Dentists
Authors: Hamilton Harry 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
The profession of dentistry is premised on a traditional biomedical model focusing the attention of practitioners on the oral cavity. Nevertheless, oral health is related to a number of social variables, not least among them age, gender, class, race, ethnicity, and location (rural versus urban). The social interaction between dentist and patient is likewise related to treatment outcomes, and dentists may be both professionally and legally responsible for reporting suspected abuse. An awareness of drug abuse by patients, as well as of the pitfalls of drug abuse by practitioners, is also important to a successful practice. Finally, as per the American Dental Association's principle of beneficence, dentists enter into an implied contract with society to improve social welfare, which can include treatment of the indigent.