Full Description
After decades of research devoted to women's health, a federal agency focused on women's health, and millions of dollars allocated to address women's health disparities, African American women are still the sickest American citizens. This book examines why.
Written by an all-female, all-African American team of health experts that include nurse practitioners, registered nurses, educators, and psychologists, this book focuses on the diseases and related social issues that cause the greatest harm and pose the greatest threat to African American women today. Its chapters address topics as varied as heart disease, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, domestic violence, cervical and breast cancers, obesity, depression, mental illness, dementia/Alzheimer's, and incarcerated women's health care. A chapter is dedicated to identifying the social, cultural, and environmental barriers that block African American women from experiencing the best possible lives.
Providing comprehensive coverage of the topic from an Afrocentric perspective, this text will be of great interest to medical and psychological health professionals and professors; social workers, counselors, and students in these fields; as well as African American women seeking current and expert information on these health threats.
Contents
Foreword: Sick, Tired, and Healing by Julianne Malveaux
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction on the Health and Social Status of African American Women
Catherine Fisher Collins
SECTION I: PHYSICAL HEALTH
1 Health Disparities and Cardiovascular Disease in African American Women
Mattie L. Rhodes
2 African American Women: Living with Sickle Cell Disease
Jamesetta A. Newland
3 Promoting Cervical Cancer Prevention among African American Women
Denise M. Linton
4 African American Women and Breast Cancer Issues
Patricia K. Bradley
5 The Skinny on Fat and Exercise: Truth about Obesity among Black Women
Portia Johnson and Yvonne Wesley
SECTION II: MENTAL HEALTH
6 Super Sisters: Daring to Say It...Depression
Shuana K. Tucker and Lisa M. Loury-Lomas
7 Dementia in African American Women
Funmi A. Aiyegbo-Ohadike
SECTION III: ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
8 African American Women, Intimate Partner Violence, and Community Violence: Health Intersections and Aftereffects
Lorraine E. Peeler
9 Health-Care Pathways and Issues for African American Women in Prison
Catherine Fisher Collins
Index
About the Editor and Contributors
