Health Disparities: Weaving a New Understanding Through Case Narratives

Description

This uniquely accessible volume challenges professionals to understand—and help correct—health disparities, both at the patient level and in their larger social contexts. Dedicated to eradicating this ongoing injustice, contributors focus on marginalized populations, the role of healthcare systems in perpetuating inequities, the need for deeper engagement and listening by professionals, and the need for advocacy within professional education and the political/policy arena. The compelling case narratives at the core of the book illustrate the interrelated biopsychosocial components of patients’ health problems and the gradations of learning needed for practitioners to address them effectively. The book’s tools for developing a health disparities curriculum include a selection of workshop exercises, facilitator resources, and a brief guide to writing effective case narratives. A sampling of the narratives: “Finding the Person in Patient-Centered Health Care” (race/ethnicity/culture).“The Annual Big Girl / Big Boy Exchange” (gender).“Just Give Me Narcan and Let Me Go” (poverty/addiction). “Everyone Called Him Crazy” (immigration). “Adrift in the System” (disability).“Aging out of Pediatrics” (mental illness and stigma).“Time to Leave” (LGBT) A work of profound compassion, Health Disparities will be of considerable interest to researchers and practitioners interested in public health, population health, health disparities, and related fields such as sociology, social work, and narrative medicine. Its wealth of educational features also makes it a quality trainingtext. "I was impressed when I read Health Disparities: Weaving a New Understanding through Case Narratives. As a patient who has experienced unpleasant situations in health care, I was moved to see that it was emotional and personal for the writers. The book confirms for me that the time is now for change to take place in our health care systems. I see this book as a light that can shine bright in the darkest places of health care. The editors have assembled a powerful book that provides all health professionals with specific steps they can take towards addressing and then eventually eliminating health disparities. A few steps that I really connected with were improving critical awareness, delivering quality care, listening and empathizing with patients and families, and advocating for changes. I recommend that anyone interested in working to improve health care obtain a copy of this book—it’s filled with useful information that every medical professional should know. The book reminds me of a quote by Wayne Dyer, 'When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.'" -Delores Collins, Founder and Executive Director, A Vision of Change Incorporated, Certified Community Health Worker. Founder of The Greater Cleveland Community Health Workers Association. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction (Adam Perzynski, Francine Hekelman)....Pages 1-5 Health Disparities and Social Determinants of Health (Sarah Shick, Ifeolorunbode Adebambo, Adam Perzynski)....Pages 7-15 Case Narratives (Adam Perzynski)....Pages 17-17 Front Matter ....Pages 19-19 Time to Leave (Ifeolorunbode Adebambo)....Pages 21-23 How Can We Care for Everyone? (Christina Antenucci)....Pages 25-26 Front Matter ....Pages 27-27 Where Is the Patient? Finding the Person in Patient-Centered Health Care (Adam Perzynski, Carol Blixen, Martha Sajatovic)....Pages 29-31 Unacceptable (Hongfei Di)....Pages 33-34 Testing Trust (Oluwatoyin Vivian Opelami)....Pages 35-36 The System is Unfair (Wisler Saint-Vil)....Pages 37-37 Front Matter ....Pages 39-39 The Irritable Uterus (Rebecca Fischbein)....Pages 41-42 Barriers to the Breast (Sandra Wright-Esber)....Pages 43-44 The Annual Big Girl/Big Boy Exchange (Kristin Baughman)....Pages 45-46 Front Matter ....Pages 47-47 I Hurt Everywhere (David Sperling)....Pages 49-50 Waiting (Mary Corrigan)....Pages 51-52 Just Give Me Narcan and Let Me Go (Ali Ali)....Pages 53-54 Front Matter ....Pages 55-55 New in Town (John Boltri)....Pages 57-60 Fleas (Vanessa H. Worley)....Pages 61-62 The Hungry Child and the Corner Store (Stacey Gardner-Buckshaw)....Pages 63-65 Why Didn’t You Ever Call Me? (Emily George)....Pages 67-69 Front Matter ....Pages 71-71 Everyone Called Him Crazy (Veronica Cheung)....Pages 73-74 Headache (Sharefi Saleh)....Pages 75-75 Language and Nuance (David Brinkman-Sull)....Pages 77-78 The Case of Baby G (Anirudha Das)....Pages 79-80 Lost in Translation (Mircea Olteanu)....Pages 81-82 The Struggles of the Undocumented (Chris Gillespie)....Pages 83-84 Kidnapped (Diana M. Kingsbury)....Pages 85-86 Conveying Care (Feras Ghazal)....Pages 87-88 Front Matter ....Pages 89-89 I Jump in with Her, Share Her Joy, and Look Out for Her Needs (Amy Zack)....Pages 91-93 Rude (Ifeolorunbode Adebambo)....Pages 95-95 Power, Pride, and Policy (Emily George)....Pages 97-98 What’s a Woman to Do? (Mary Jo Roach)....Pages 99-101 Adrift in the System (Danielle Massarella)....Pages 103-103 Front Matter ....Pages 105-105 Jane in Room 18 (Michael D. Paronish)....Pages 107-108 Am I a Strong Person? (David Sperling)....Pages 109-110 Front Matter ....Pages 111-111 You Can Give Me Something (Imola Osapay)....Pages 113-114 Stalemate (Brian Bachelder)....Pages 115-116 Trapped (Richard Berry)....Pages 117-119 Front Matter ....Pages 121-121 Growing Old in a New World (Tamer Hassan Said, Hardeep Gill)....Pages 123-124 Front Matter ....Pages 125-125 Problems with My Computer: The Electronic Path Not Taken (David J. Mansour)....Pages 127-128 Lost Without a Map (Adam Perzynski)....Pages 129-131 Front Matter ....Pages 133-133 Health>Education>Health (Janice M. Spalding)....Pages 135-136 I Don’t Know Why I Brought the Bottle (Joseph Daprano)....Pages 137-138 Front Matter ....Pages 139-139 Fatalismo (Elain Occil)....Pages 141-143 Aging Out of Pediatrics (Sunny Dhoopar)....Pages 145-147 Judged by Physicians (Stefanie Delvecchio)....Pages 149-150 Ugh (Sladjana Courson)....Pages 151-151 Will You Be My PCP? (Adefunke Adedipe)....Pages 153-154 Front Matter ....Pages 155-155 My Lucky Twins (Sheng Liu)....Pages 157-160 What Kind of System Is This? (Betsy Ekey)....Pages 161-162 The Fall That Won’t Stop Falling (Sarah Shick)....Pages 163-166 Front Matter ....Pages 167-167 I’m Going to Be OK (Emily Godlewski)....Pages 169-171 She Smiles (Hemalatha Senthilkumar)....Pages 173-175 Bakit? (Why?) (Mariquita Tolentino-Belen)....Pages 177-178 Front Matter ....Pages 179-179 Guidelines for Health Disparities Case Narratives Workshops (Adam Perzynski, Ifeolorunbode Adebambo)....Pages 181-184 Discussion Guide for Health Disparities Case Narratives (Ifeolorunbode Adebambo, Adam Perzynski, Sarah Shick)....Pages 185-204 Review of Community Health Needs Assessment for Increasing Awareness and Reducing Disparities (Aleece Caron, Joseph Jaeger, Miriam Bar-on, Kathryn Andolsek)....Pages 205-208 Intersectionality Game (Sarah Shick)....Pages 209-210 Sensitization as the First Step: The Horatio Alger Exercise (Varun U. Shetty, S. Jeffrey Mostade)....Pages 211-220 Teaching Social Determinants of Health (Megan Rich)....Pages 221-236 The Wheels of Misfortune (Adam Perzynski)....Pages 237-238 Brief Guide to Writing Case Narratives (Sarah Shick, Ifeolorunbode Adebambo, Adam Perzynski)....Pages 239-242 Back Matter ....Pages 243-246