Epidemiology and the people's health
Subtitle: theory and context
By: Nancy Krieger
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 381
ISBN-13: 9780195383874
Subjects: Epidemiology; Methodology; Epidemiologic Methods
Description: "Epidemiology is often referred to as the science of public health. However, unlike other major sciences, its theoretical foundations are rarely articulated. While the idea of epidemiologic theory may seem dry and arcane, it is at its core about explaining the people's health. It is about life and death. It is about biology and society. It is about ecology and the economy. It is about how myriad aspects of people's lives--involving work, dignity, desire, love, play, conflict, discrimination, and injustice--become literally incorporated biologically into our bodies and manifest in our health status, individually and collectively. And it is about essential knowledge critical for improving the people's health and minimizing inequitable burdens of disease, disability, and death. Woven from a vast array of schools of thought, including those in the natural, social, and biomedical sciences, epidemiologic theory is a rich tapestry whose time for analysis is long overdue. By tracing its history and contours from ancient societies on through the development of--and debates within--contemporary epidemiology worldwide, Nancy Krieger shows how epidemiologic theory has long shaped epidemiologic practice, knowledge, and the politics of public health. Outlining an ecosocial theory of disease distribution that situates both population health and epidemiologic theory in societal and ecologic context, she offers a more holistic picture of how we embody the human experience"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-371) and index.
Table of contents: title: Preface; title: Chapter 1: Does Epidemiologic Theory Exist? On Science, Data, and Explaining Disease Distribution; title: Chapter 2: Health in the Balance: Early Theories About Patterns of Disease Occurrence; title: Chapter 3: Epidemiology Emerges: Early Theories and Debating Determinants of Disease Distribution; title: Poison, Filth, Class & Race (1600-1900); title: Chapter 4: Epidemiology Expands: Germs, Genes, and the (Social) Environment (1900-1950); title: Chapter 5: Contemporary Mainstream Epidemiologic Theory: Biomedical and Lifestyle; title: Chapter 6: Social Epidemiologic Alternatives: Sociopolitical and Psychosocial Frameworks; title: Chapter 7: Ecosocial Theory of Disease Distribution: Embodying Societal & Ecologic Context; title: Chapter 8: Epidemiologic Theory Counts: Harm, Knowledge, Action and the People's Health.