Book Description

Meredith Minkler and Nina Wallerstein have brought together, in one important volume, a stellar panel of contributors who offer a comprehensive resource on the theory and application of community based participatory research. Community Based Participatory Research for Health contains information on a wide variety of topics including planning and conducting research, working with communities, promoting social change, and core research methods. The book also contains a helpful appendix of tools, guides, checklists, sample protocols, and much more.

... Read more

Book Description

McMaster Univ., Hamilton, Canada. Pocket guide on understanding statistics, for anyone who must occasionally interpret the results section of a research article in scientific journals. Not intended as a textbook; light, often humorous writing style. Includes CD-ROM containing complete text and illustrations in fully searchable PDF files. Softcover. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

In a class of its own!
This book is the only statistics book of its type. For each section covering a specific statistical method (from simple methods to those you may not even cover in your PhD training), a concise 2-5 page summary is presented. The goal is not to enable the reader to calculate any of these statistics, but to understand conceptually what each statistic means. This is where it can fill in information other statistics texts never get to. A student (or researcher!) who can churn out factorial ANOVA results, but doesn't truly understand what they mean can turn to this book for clarity. It's simple (for statistics), it's short, it's clear, and you have to love a book that is dedicated "To the many people who have made this book both possible and necessary -- authors of other statistics books"!

The best
I've spent years looking for a book on statistics that is lucid for professionals who need to use statistical methods but who don't want to get a Ph.D. in math to be able to undertand them.

This book is the best. No incomprehensible Greek formulas. No tortured prose. And yet it's not just a mere introduction of what a mode is. It includes some advanced statistical methods and gives you all you need to know to understand what they do and how and when you would use them. It is long enough to describe each method sufficiently, including pitfalls and things to watch out for. Yet the book is short enough that reading it and undertanding the whole thing is possible in a modest length of time.

You can stop searching now. This is the book.

Don't fear the p-value!
This really is a fun book - yes FUN - I'd even say it's a bathroom book about statistics. It's very conceptual, not at all driven by formulas - and makes many statistical concepts crystal clear. A great book to pick up for the PHD or the stats phobic - -

Excellent resource for the statistically challenged!
If you are an analytically impaired and statistically challenged math phobe who needs to understand and use statistical methods, this is an excellent resource. The authors explanations are relevant and easy to understand. Highly recommended for those who need to get a grip on the numbers in research! ... Read more

Book Description

Although outcome measurement has become a prevailing means of evaluating health promotion, patient education, and other health services, the quality of many outcome measurements has declined. Responding to the need for a comprehensive, sensitive, and cost-effective means of administering outcome measures, Outcome Measures for Health Education and Other Health Care Interventions provides more than 50 self-administered scales for measuring health behaviors, health status, self-efficacy, and health care utilization. The majority of scales were developed by the Stanford Patient Education Research Center for use in their Chronic Disease Self-Management Study, while others provide a useful means of measuring the magnitude of change seen in patient education or health care evaluations. In addition, this extensive volume provides a detailed case study of how instruments were conceptualized and developed for the Chronic Disease Self-Management Study and provides complete psychometric details for all measures not previously published. An appendix containing the Spanish translation for many scales is an added bonus that will enable professionals to overcome many cross-cultural barriers that might contribute to inaccurate outcome measures.

Designed for students and professionals in nursing, health education, and the health/medical sciences, Outcome Measurement for Health Education and Other Health Care Interventions will prove to be a comprehensive, practical, and effective tool in accurately measuring outcomes.

Book Description

Modern evidence-based injury prevention and control strategies have contributed to a substantial decline in the number of deaths associated with injury. Injury Control:Research and Program Evaluation addresses the growing need for a single comprehensive source of data on all research designs available for injury control and research. This accessible guidebook includes information on research tools such as injury severity scales, conducting program evaluations and trauma audits, systematic reviews, and ecologic studies. Epidemiologists and health service investigators, as well as trauma surgeons and emergency medicine physicians who provide the post-acute care of trauma patients, will find this the only current information source focused on injury control research and evaluation. ... Read more

Book Description

Deadly Glow is the important story of a public health tragedy. It chronicles the lives of young women who worked in radium application plants in the early 1900s painting numerals on instrument and watch dials. From their experience, the harmful effects of radium deposited in the body became known.

The victims suffered from skin ulcerations, tumors and other severe medical symptoms. Physicians were baffled and misdiagnosed their conditions as heart disease and even syphilis. Solving the intriguing mystery of the workers' disabling, yet unknown, disease would be a complex and difficult task requiring brilliant detective work of several investigators. In time, this tragedy would be recognized as the worlds' first mass experience with injury and death caused by exposure to atomic radiation.

This is a compelling story for occupational medicine, health physics, radiation safety and public health workers. But for all people, Deadly Glow will tell the dreadful tale and heroic conclusion of a public health disaster. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A true story...
An outstanding and well-researched work about true history in our fine country. Dr. Mullner was a guest lecturer when I was a student in Chicago in 1990. I went to hear his talk because my grandfather was the physician in Chicago who identified the link between radium and oral cancer among the Elgin workers who painted the watch faces with radium paint. He filled in the entire history for me, and I am more than grateful with his rendition of "the rest of the story..."

Deadly Glow
This book is a compelling and carefully documented story of the tragedy of the first widely known victims of the atomic age, the radium dial workers. The author superbly blends scientific fact with vivid characterizations of the emotions and suffering of these workers. Numerous pictures from the early part of the last century of people, places, and artifacts unique to the story help transport the reader to that period in time. The chapter, "The Ottawa Society of the Living Dead," focuses on the fate of hundreds of young women in their teens and early twenties who worked at the largest dial-painting establishment. Besides tipping the brushes to add precision to painting the numbers on dials, these women were encouraged to paint common household items and decorate the buttons and belts of their dresses with paint. The deadly consequences of these practices were protracted by years of a myriad of legal battles with the only solace that these battles finally brought public attention to the plight of these women. I heartily concur with the remarks in the Foreword by the former Section Head for Human Radiobiology at Argonne National Laboratory, "Who should read this book?....everybody." ... Read more

Book Description

America may be one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but its citizens rank near the bottom in health status. Americans have lower life expectancy, more infant mortalities and higher adolescent death rates than most other advanced industrial nations--and even some developing countries. Though Americans are famous for tolerating great inequality in wealth, the gross inequities in the health system are less well recognized. In Healthy, Wealthy and Fair, a distinguished group of health policy experts chart the stark disparities in health and wealth in the United States. The authors explain how the inequities arise, why they persist, and what makes them worse. Growing income inequality, high poverty rates, and inadequate health care coverage: all three trends help account for the U.S.'s health troubles. The corrosive effects of market ideology and government stalemate, the contributors argue, have also proved a powerful obstacle to effective and more egalitarian solutions. A clarion call for a populist uprising to end the stalemate over health reform, Healthy, Wealthy, and Fair outlines concrete policy proposals for reform--tapping bold new ideas as well as incremental changes to existing programs. This important work will be indispensable to all those who care about our people's health, inequality, and American democracy. ... Read more

Book Description

The Future of Primary Care reports on the principles of organization and delivery of primary care to address the needs of our future population. The Future of Primary Care’s   stellar panel of health care experts includes Barbara Starfield, Dana Gelb Safran, Bernard Lo, and Gordon Moore. They explore topics such as

· Current dilemmas and threats to primary care from both the clinician’s and patient’s point of view

· The impact of the self-care and alternative care movements

· The importance of improved information technologies

· Individual elements of primary care and the relative value of each element

· Primary care’s contribution to the overall health of our population

· Assessing alternative sites and circumstances where primary care may be provided

· The specialist and nurse as primary care providers

· The role of primary care in chronic illness management, care for the elderly, long term and home care

· Exploring recommendations for the future

... Read more

Book Description

Explores how the medical, social, cultural, and economic dimensions associated with digital data networks affect the kinds of healthcare services expected in the future. Presents a framework for the people and professions involved in creating telemedicine and telehealth networks to use in understanding how to work together effectively. DNLM: Telemedicine--organization & administration. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Review of Telemedice and Telehealth by Darkins and CArey
Telemedicine and Telehealth is a timely and useful book. As a Physician and Consultant, Teleheath provides a soup to nuts discussion about the issues relating to telehealth.
The first chapter details basic definitions of the field. The next five chapters deals with the patient, physicans, Healthcare in general, and lastly specific telemedicine services. The authors suggest the formula for telehealth success as improved quality and access to care at a lower cost and without raising professional objestions.
I found the chapters developing the business case for Telemedicine and telehealth services most compelling. These markets are still in their infancy and are still struggling to develop their potential. The authors share with us their strategy for selling Telehealth services (page 157).
Telemedice and Telehealth, also provides a cautionary note. The authors indicate that to date they were not aware of studies demonstrating a viable telehealth model with the current legislation and reimbursement structure. Further issues such as licensure, quality assurance and backup systems remain to be clearly defined.
This book is an excellent read. Concise, articulate and timely. I would recommend this book to any one intersted in Telemedicine or Telehealth.

Comprehensive, useful for novices and specialists
As a software developer and member of the American Telemedicine Association, I found this book to be a very valuable reference. Our company is developing software solutions to allow patients and health care providers easy, secure access to medical information. This book has helped us understand how telemedicine is developing and how it will be used, so that we can see the developing niches for our products. This book provides the larger view of this developing field and gives readers inspiration to enter the exciting field.

Telemedicine and Telehealth is Now!
As a practicing physician with a keen interest in information technologies and their applications in healthcare, I always approach books like this with some bemusement. In turn, I was pleasantly surprised by my delight with this book. To succeed in the charge to bridge the digital divide and to eliminate health disparities, we physicians and managers will have to arm ourselves with timely solutions which are informed by experience and science. Coupled with the practical and the "how to" make "Telemedicine and Telehealth" a valuable resource for anyone interested in creating the future healthcare system. It connects and transcends the important elements and issues rather than just regurgitating the problems we've heard over and over again. If you believe, as I do, that the future of healthcare will be greatly enhanced by the new information technologies, this book helps to put the present and future in perspective. Darkins and Cary absolutely succeed!

The future of health care thru high technology
Review of: Telemedicine and Telehealth by Adam W. Darkins and Margaret A. Cary

This important book begins the necessary critical conversation of defining the fundamental of concepts and terms, as well as those areas of current and future applications, involved in the merging of health care delivery and high technology systems. The authors wisely suggest using the term Telehealth to address the broad range of health applications which high technology, the Internet in particular, can greatly impact.

These concerns are set in the context of both a historical view of health care and society, particularly in the more technologically developed societies of the U.S. Western Europe and Japan, and these societiesÕ current and future trends toward change of lifestyle driven by their adaptation of new technologies. These are vital concerns, both within health care delivery in particular, as well as within the economic and social evolution of these societies in general.

Their book focuses on the patientÕs experience of health care service as facilitated by this new technology rather than being yet another discussion of the fascinating innovations within the technology itself, a very important distinction.

Being physicians themselves, authors Darkins and Cary have professionally grown up through the very cusp of change they are defining for us; they know the pre-high technology delivery of health care and have been witness to, and advocates for, the introduction of high technology to the health care systems in which each have worked, both in the U.S. and England.

Their book is both comprehensive in its discussion of the issues involved as well as being detailed in its coverage of those particulars necessary to see the overall picture clearly.

Because of the timeliness of this merging of high technology and healthcare delivery, one wishes this book could be made more available to a wider reading public through a greater promotional effort by the publisher.

Learn about telemedicine and telehealth
Conceptually, the answer to many of health care's challenges lie in the use of new information technologies. Knowing this is the case and making it happen are two very different entities. This book ably bridges these two entities. The devil, as always, is in the details and the authors deftly elaborate the problems and provide solutions. I recommend this book to practitioners, administrators, managers and policy makers who are energetic and enthusiastic about the future direction of health care. Errol L. Biggs, Ph.D., Director - Programs in Health Administration, University of Colorado ... Read more

Reviews (1)

This book is a gem!
I am presently using this book to study for the board exam in Preventive Medicine. I had hoped there was a newer version. There isn't. Nevertheless, even this 2nd edition is a great resource. The content is well organized and uncluttered by excessive narrative. The examples and sample test questions are written in clear, easy to understand language. Complex concepts involved in standardizing rates and statistics are remarkably cogent in this great synopsis of public health. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who cannot spare the time to wade through a lot of verbiage to get to the point. ... Read more

Book Description

Everything You Need to Streamline Agency Costs and Expenditures

You've heard about the enormous savings potential of Activity-Based Cost Management (ABC/M) - now it's time to put this powerful system to work in your organization. Get started today with the advice and strategies you'll find in Management Concepts' newest book, Activity-Based Cost Management in Government.

This 400+ page book guides you through every phase of activity-based accounting: from setting up a basic system through its organizational implementation. In one concise resource, you now have everything you need to streamline all aspects of your organization's costs and expenditures.

Written in easy-to-understand language and clearly illustrated, Gary Cokins' Activity-Based Cost Management in Government provides the financial techniques to:

-Determine the true and actual costs of services and cost rates
-Implement process improvements departmentally and organization-wide
-Evaluate the pros and cons of outsourcing and privatization decisions versus internal delivery
-Align financial and budgetary activities to the organization's mission and strategic plan ... Read more

Reviews (10)

The leading resource in the ABC/ABM field
Gary Cokins does an excellent job explaining Activity Based Costing and Activity Based Management from beginning to end. By reading the first chapter alone, one can tell he is an expert in his field. He begins explaining the subject matter with the basics and continues through using an easy to follow logic. For public sector organizations that are considering ABC/M, or already using it, this book is a master guide for its methodology. It has very helpful charts which the author uses in his explanation of the material, making it easy for the reader to follow.

I have spent over 30 years in government, and the one aspect always apparent is that the government is always trying to improve performance with fewer resources, and therefore recognizes the need for activity based costing. This book is, by far, the leading reference to refer to for guidance on how to implement ABC/M. The reader does not have to be a cost accountant to comprehend the methodology or technique used to implement ABC/M. The author cites actual cases in the public sector where federal or local agencies have implemented this technique and the successes made. He begins with the issue or problem and cites the solution, the model structure used, the results, and the lessons learned. These actual case examples help show how ABC/M can resolve problems in the real world.

Overall, I found this book to be an excellent resource in its field, as it is easily understood, yet comprehensive. I strongly recommend it to any government manager that wants to help their organization excel.

A MUST HAVE
I have an earlier book written by this author entitled, "Activity-based Cost Management, Making It Work" that was written during earlier days of implementing activity-based costing. Cokins' new book, while it addresses activity-based functionality for government, also presents some "matured" thinking and advice on ABC/M which I found to be extremely helpful in validating some of my own observations and learnings from implementing ABC/M. For a newcomer to ABC/M, the book presents the case for why government entities can profit from using ABC/M, how to get an implementation going, critical factors for success and some case studies of actual government implementations. But, it also gets into more advanced applications such as using ABC/M to support performance measurement, supply chain management, and budgeting. These chapters are not as easily digested, but they are a rich source of reference for those planning to broaden the use of activity-based cost/management.

COST MANAGEMENT IN GOVERNMENT
Activity based cost management is increasingly taking hold in government and is helping many organizations make dramatic improvements in their understanding of costs. Gary Cokins, a widely respected cost management craftsman and teacher, has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement cost management in his book "Activity-Based Cost Management in Government." He does a great job covering a wide range cost topics in a clear and coherent manner; and he consistently reinforces - through relevant concepts, examples and quotations - the pragmatic value of cost information to support fact based decision making.

Very Informative
Gary's book sheds light on a subject that I have heard a great deal about but had no practical experience in. The use of ABC/M tools and techniques is growing rapidly in the federal government. This book is an essential primer for managers within the Federal government as well as government consultants. I particularly enjoyed reading about the example projects in Chapter 18.

Finally an ABC book that addresses both Why and How
I have read most of the ABC books published since the topic first surfaced in the mid-1980s. Some books have covered how to build ABC models in detail, providing a wealth of direction as a guide book to implementation. Others have dwelled on the theory of strategic cost measurement and management, backing up their obsevations with case studies in a variety of industries. Gary has tackled the most difficult of application areas in his new book, that of government and public sector.
Reading through this book will build a sound knowledge of why a government organization should implement ABC, how to go about it, and how to avoid the problems that pioneering government organizations have already discovered and learned to avoid.
After gaining that understanding,you will use this book as a reference for how to address model building issues and questions, how to answer the questions and biases of managers and executives who must understand ABC to have it affect their decision making, and how to build onto what is learned in your organization from ABC to implement performance measurment and improvement. Performance improvement is what these system exist to support, and ABC concepts and systems work well to integrate scorecard, process reengineering, continuous improvement, and other managment tools and decision support systems that are all to often implemented independently. That is the viewpoint that Gary has used to guide this book.
Gary's book is one that I pick up to get a trusted viewpoint when I have an difficult issue to address implementing ABC and performance measurement. ... Read more

Book Description

The ethical aspects of the operation of healthcare organizations (HCOs) are central to the delivery of health care.Organization Ethics in Health Care begins by assesing the shortcomings of clinical ethics, business ethics, and professional ethics as a basis for solving problems that have emerged in healthcare delivery systems since the advent of managed care. The text then considers the meaning of the developent of the HCO in our society and what its present status is. It shows that moral parameters endorsed by society have guided previous shifts in the relationships among important HCO stakeholders, but that these parameters have been unclear or missing altogether during the past tumultuous decade. Finally, the authors describe the key elements for the successful implementation of a fully functioning healthcare organization ethics program and what it can mean to the institution, its associated clinicians and employees, its patients, and its community. Moving from theory to practical application, this book will serve as a student text, a professional guide, and a reference work. ... Read more

Book Description

Concise, to-the-point coverage of general terrorism preparation and the nuclear, biologic, and chemical agents most often used as terrorist weapons. ... Read more

Book Description

Modern human rights, born in the aftermath of the second world war and crystallized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, reflect a broader, societal, approach to the complex problem of well-being. While health is mentioned only once in the document, human rights are about the societal preconditions forphysical, mental and social well-being.Health care professionals are generally unaware of the key concepts, meaning and content of modern human rights. But they are learning that promoting and protecting human rights may be essential for promoting and protecting health.

Health and Human Rights: A Reader, including contributions by doctors, lawyers and government representatives, is the first comprehensive anthology of essays in this new field to address the balance between public health and human rights awareness.

The essays in this collection cover issues including ethnic cleansing, world population policies, women's reproductive choices, the Nuremburg Code and AIDS and HIV policies and treatments. It is an essential introduction to the developing field of health and human rights. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A must for public health professionals
This book presents a terrific introduction to the role of human rights in public health practice. While quite accessible, some may wish to augment this book with additional readings- perhaps Just Health Care by Normal Daniels?

Good Reference
This book was pretty thorough for documenting health and human rights in several areas of the world, apart from those in the middle east. A gross omission was the case of Iraq. It had an appendix with the declaration of human rights (plus others) for those interested in the "ideal" Otherwise, it was a great introduction into health and human rights. ... Read more

Book Description

This groundbreaking work, now available in paperback, has helped to shape the emerging discipline of molecular epidemiology. Molecular Epidemiology has proven useful to epidemiologists unfamiliar with the terminology and techniques of molecular biology as well as to the molecular biologist working to understand the determinants of human disease and to use that information to control disease. This book demonstrates how molecular epidemiology utilizes the same paradigm as traditional epidemiology in addition to using biological markers to identify exposure, disease, or susceptibility. ... Read more

Book Description

Community Health Promotion Ideas That Work, Second Edition aims to narrow the gap between what is currently being implemented in health education and promotion and what actually works. Updated with new chapters and chapter content, this edition shares the latest knowledge and experience gained by researchers and practitioners to help others plan and apply successful community health promotion programs. Case stories, based on the triumphs and struggles of practitioners in the field, combine theory and practice and provide a practical frame of reference for the critical issues and principles of effective community health promotion. ... Read more

Book Description

"Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women is a crucial resource for all therapists who treat women. Not only will the information further the well-being of women clients, but it could literally save lives. Interesting, readable, and well-organized, this book belongs on the shelf next to the DSM-IV. The case examples will grip the reader whether professional or lay audience." --Natalie Porter, Ph.D., California School of Professional Psychology "I am greatly impressed with the book. It is a brand new idea, one that is long overdue." --Hannah Lerman, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist, Los Angeles Some clients don't respond to a therapist's chosen treatment for a specific mental disorder. Could there be a physical disorder that is causing psychiatric symptoms? How can a therapist distinguish between similar psychiatric and physical disorders to arrive at the correct diagnosis, refer on, and/or suggest appropriate treatment? Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women gives the therapist the foundation for identifying those physiological disorders that may be at the root of the mental problems presented by women clients. Hyperthyroidism, for example, can result in depression and anxiety, and temporal lobe epilepsy can manifest itself with the same symptoms as bipolar disorder. This special guidebook sorts out potential mix-ups by providing detailed cases and illustrations, a quick reference table for checking symptoms, and a glossary. Making technical information clear and concise, the authors cover endocrinological--including thyroid, adrenal, pituitary, and parathyroid systems--and brain seizure problems as well as other diseases--such as multiple sclerosis, mitral heart valve prolapse, and lupus erythematosus. They offer a basic overview of the systems and organs involved and focus on how particular malfunctions can result in serious behavioral problems. A guide to providing the best and most effective care to women clients, Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women presents important information about assessment and interfacing with medical professionals. All mental health and helping professionals will find this book invaluable, as will students in clinical/counseling psychology, health psychology, social work, and gender studies. "This book is informative and interesting to read. This is a text that can be read more than once and be that much more helpful in subsequent readings. . . . Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women will certainly have an impact on feminist assessment, theory, and therapy. In a broader context, it provides a foundation to spawn research hypotheses on women's health and to reconnect the mind and body. Written accessibly even for reader without a background in physiological psychology, it fills a gap in the clinical and counseling literature. This text has far-reaching implications about the origin of psychiatric symptoms and possibly for explaining some differential rates in sex ratios for prevalence of certain psychologically based clinical syndromes. I found the text a humbling reminder of how easy it can be to miss the obvious and how easy it can be to attribute psychological explanations to symptom clusters one doesn't understand. This book could easily become a 'required' text for graduate students in mental health professions and mental health professionals. . . . This text will undoubtedly have an impact." --Maria P. P. Root, Ph.D., University of Washington "Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women is very good and will make an important contribution to the field. . . . The book's message--that it is critical that differential diagnosis include consideration of both psychiatric disorders--is convincing and important to emphasize to students in graduate programs." --Helene Jackson, Ph.D., The Columbia University School of Social Work ... Read more

Book Description

Epidemiology is a subject of growing importance, as witnessed by its role in the description and prediction of the impact of new diseases such as AIDS and new-variant CJD.Epidemiology: Study Design and Data Analysis covers the whole spectrum of standard analytical techniques used in epidemiology, from descriptive techniques in report writing to model diagnostics from generalized linear models. The author discusses the advantages, disadvantages, and alternatives to case-control, cohort and intervention studies and details such crucial concepts as incidence, prevalence, confounding and interaction. Many exercises are provided, based on real epidemiological data sets collected from all over the world. The data sets are also available on an associated web site. Epidemiology: Study Design and Data Analysis will be an invaluable textbook for statistics and medical students studying epidemiology, and a standard reference for practicing epidemiologists. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent pres. of epi & data-analysis -mostly for students
This book can both be used as a first time introduction to epidemiology and the most popular statistical methods employed in health research, but also for looking up things when you need it, since it is actually quite thorough on a lot of subjects in the field. This is, however, not the best thing about the book.
The best thing about it is that it is very well-written - neither too complicated and unstructured, or too common-sense to the point where you get annoyed because the author never gets to the point. I'm sure that some readers will be find that Woodward has spend to many pages on the statistical part - at least if they expect to find a pure epidemiology-textbook - but the data analysis part is also very well-written and quite comprehensible. So even if you're not planning on spending the rest of your life with data analysis, this book can provide you wih an understanding of this part of epidemiological research as well, which will make the understanding of the field as a whole much better. ... Read more