Unequal Health

How Inequality Contributes to Health or Illness

By (author) Grace Budrys

Not available to order

Publication date:

23 January 2017

Length of book:

214 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442248519

Unequal Health examines the reasons why stark differences in health and well-being persist, even as the health care industry and access to health care grow. The third edition of this powerful book retains the accessible style and focus on inequality from previous editions while featuring significant new material throughout.

After an overview of key themes, the book introduces the concept of epidemiology—measuring the number of people who are sick or dying—and offers an overview of health trends over time. Author Grace Budrys distills the latest research to consider the relevance of sex, race, income, and education, and relative social status on health. The book discusses disease, habits that contribute to health, the relationship between health care and health status, genetics, socioeconomic inequality, health policy, and more. The third edition features a new chapter on diet, an increased discussion of substance abuse and the attention it receives based on who is engaging in this behavior, new material on income and education variables and inequality, a new discussion of the Affordable Care Act and its impact, and more.
Carefully researched, beautifully written, and accessible to most readers, Unequal Health is an indispensable book for anyone concerned about growing health inequities. The third edition provides a welcome update. Budrys addresses timely issues, such as the Affordable Care Act and its impact, along with long-standing concerns related to the social distribution of health behaviors and health care access that shape social variation in health outcomes.