When a person faces serious illness, having the support of one's partner can help protect against the full ravages of disease, and even hasten recovery. However, too much support can have grave clinical consequences for sufferers and exact a heavy emotional and financial toll on caregivers. Social Support, Health, and Illness is an up-to-date analysis of how social support can either help or hinder recovery for patients. A useful resource for clinical practitioners and researchers, Social Support, Health, and Illness addresses the effects of intimate support on a wide variety of medical and psychiatric conditions, including cancer, dementia, and chronic pain. Ranjan Roy uncovers the complexities underlying social support by tracing the concept's historical and theoretical development. Synthesizing insights from the latest research findings, Social Support, Health, and Illness offers a comprehensive look at the modifying and mitigating factors of intimacy on the outcomes of disease.

It is estimated that at least 60% of persons dying have a prolonged advanced illness. The need for palliative and end-of-life care will increase due to the rapidly aging world population and the increase of multiple long-term conditions. For these reasons, palliative care is an integral part of public health and public health strategies. Palliative care as holistic person-centered care and has played a critical role in the recent public health emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a close association between public health, health promotion, and palliative care, and this research topic will highlight this association. Through a series of multi-disciplinary articles, we will explore public health in the context of life-limiting illnesses contributing to shaping person-centered care, including palliative, end-of-life, and rehabilitation. This research topic will discuss advanced and life-limiting illness as a public health challenge and explore the role of palliative and end-of-life care including rehabilitation in shaping person-centered care.

How does caregiving affect health and well-being and what resources help caregivers? This book provides a synthesis of psychological research on caregiver stress and brings attention to the personal, social and structural factors that affect caregivers' well-being and as well as recent behavioral interventions to enhance health.

Family Medicine: Principles and Practice is a comprehensive reference text providing clear guidelines for diagnosing and managing acute and chronic illnesses regularly seen in family practice. The sixth edition will follow the format successfully established with the fourth edition. In addition, it will include new chapters on: Herbal Medicine, Hospitalist Medicine, Telemedicine, Evidence-Based Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Effective Office Management. Also, a whole new section on The Future of Family Medicine will be added. All chapters will be completely updated and with new clinical guidelines and references. Websites will be included in the references as well.

"Aldwin and Gilmer have supplied an interesting textual model for examining health, illness, and aging. Their homogenized approach to aging research is refreshing and insightful."--Anthropology and Aging Quarterly "Clearly written at a level for college students, this is an excellent resource on aging...Highly recommended.--Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries Spanning the biological and psychosocial aspects of aging, this upper-level undergraduate and graduate text integrates current findings in biology, psychology, and the social sciences to provide comprehensive, multidisciplinary coverage of the aging process. This new edition incorporates the tremendous amount of research that has come to light since the first edition was published. From a physical perspective, the text examines age-related changes and disease-related processes, the demography of the aging population, aging theories, and how to promote optimal aging. Coverage of the psychosocial aspects of aging encompasses mental health, stress and coping, spirituality, and caregiving in later years. The authors address demographic, theoretical, and methodological issues on aging, including a worldwide overview of aging demographics. The book reviews biological and psychosocial theories and offers much-needed information on longitudinal design and statistics as they relate to aging research. It discusses the aging of the major organ systems, the brain and sensory systems, and the endocrine and immune systems; basic anatomy and physiology; normal, impaired, and optimal aging; and functional health. Psychosocial factors that affect health are addressed, including the interplay between physical health and mental health, stress, coping, and social support. The text also covers current issues in social gerontology, including such promising new trends as gerontechnology and Green Houses, and provides information on health promotion programs. New to the Second Edition: Information involving retirement, volunteer opportunities, housing, and adaptation to health changes Coverage of economics and aging, including information on social security and other retirement income and the future of Medicare and Medicaid Significant new information about the regulatory systems Revised and updated chapters on death and dying and optimal aging Discussions on two models of optimal aging and valuable tips for its promotion URLs to relevant websites for additional information

A "one size fits all" approach to health care doesn't work well, especially for America's extremely diverse population. This book provides a lively and accessible discussion of how and why a more flexible and culturally sensitive system of health care can—and must be—achieved. Notable anthropologist George Foster defined the first edition as "a very readable introductory text dealing with the sociocultural aspects of health," adding: "[T]he authors do a commendable job... . I have profited from reading The Cultural Context of Health, Illness, and Medicine". With engaging examples, minimal jargon, and updated scholarship, the second edition of The Cultural Context of Health, Illness, and Medicine offers a comprehensive guide to the practice of culturally sensitive health care. Readers will see America's biomedically dominated health care system in a new light as the book reveals the changes wrought by increasing cultural diversity, technological innovation, and developments in care delivery. Written by a sociologist and an anthropologist with direct, hands-on experience in the health services, the volume tracks culture's influence on and relationship to health, illness, and health-care delivery via an examination of social structure, medical systems, and the need for—and challenges to—culturally sensitive care. Cultural differences are situated against social-class differences and related health inequities, as well as different needs and challenges throughout the life course. In prescribing caring that is more holistic, culturally sensitive, and cost-effective, the work promotes awareness of pressing issues for health care professionals—and the people they serve.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) also known as sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations have been the focus of global attention. Most importantly, LGBT populations have been addressed in the context of human rights in multiple reports and other activities by the United Nations and other international organizations. There is great variation among countries in the recognition of LGBT individuals’ human rights. A global focus on LGBT populations’ health is still limited, with the notable exception of HIV research. This book on LGBT populations and cancer in the global context is, therefore, an important step in that it will broaden the focus on LGBT populations’ health. Globally, cancer is the second leading cause of death. Cancer morbidity and mortality are increasing disproportionately among populations in lower-income countries. A review conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that of the 82% of member states (158) countries, only 35% of the national cancer control plans addresses vulnerable population, including LGBT populations. These findings reflect an increasing awareness about equity when addressing cancer prevention and control, including LGBT populations. This book addresses LGBT populations’ cancer burden across countries that range from high- to low-income countries to support efforts in diverse countries that are working towards reducing LGBT populations’ cancer burden. It documents place-specific challenges that impede progress towards reducing the LGBT cancer burden as well as critically assesses the variation in cancer control efforts that target LGBT populations and cancer to support progress at a global scale. This book includes six sections that cover the six WHO regions, with each chapter written by an author from the specific region s/he is covering. Each chapter makes use of a template that contextualizes the region, local data collection/availability, risk factors, cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.

Now in its Fourth Edition, this transcultural nursing text conveys the importance of diverse cultural knowledge for the evaluation of patient outcomes, understanding persons in clinical settings and appropriate responses to clinical situations during the nurse/client interaction. Detailed theory is discussed and each chapter contains awareness exercises to ensure comprehension of the nursing role as trusted health care providers. Coverage includes cultural variation in lifestyle, communication and beliefs. New to this edition is a two-color design; revised content on assessment and applications of concepts; a new chapter on culturally appropriate interventions; and, more case studies, research studies and clinical vignettes.

Death, dying, loss, and care giving are not just medical issues, but societal ones. Palliative care has become increasingly professionalised, focused around symptom science. With this emphasis on minimizing the harms of physical, psychological, and spiritual stress, there has been a loss of how cultures and communities look after their dying, with the wider social experience of death often sidelined in the professionalisation and medicalisation of care. However, the people we know and love in the places we know and love make up what matters most for those undergoing the experiences of death, loss, and care giving. Over the last 25 years the theory, practice, research evidence base, and clinical applications have developed, generating widespread adoption of the principles of public health approaches to palliative care. The essential principles of prevention, harm reduction, early intervention, and health and wellbeing promotion can be applied to the universal experience of end of life, irrespective of disease or diagnosis. Compassionate communities have become a routine part of the strategy and service development in palliative care, both within the UK and internationally. The Oxford Textbook of Public Health Palliative Care provides a reframing of palliative care, bringing together the full scope of theory, practice, and evidence into one volume. Written by international leaders in the field, it provides the first truly comprehensive and authoritative textbook on the subject that will help to further inform developments in this growing specialty.