Health Disparities in Respiratory Medicine

This book discusses health disparities in respiratory medicine and suggests methods to reduce them. In the United States, health disparities are well documented in the care of patients with respiratory disorders, particularly among minorities who often have higher rates of disease and poorer health outcomes. Similarly, differences in health and health outcomes exist between differing socioeconomic groups, with lower income groups generally having poorer health and higher rates of chronic illness. Health Disparities in Respiratory Medicine investigates these differing outcomes through the complex connections between access and quality of treatment available to these groups. Chapters are organized around either causes, diseases, or types of care, including tobacco smoke exposure, environmental air quality, acute respiratory distress syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and end-of-life care. This volume is an ideal resource for pulmonologists, health care administrators, and policy makers who aim to understand disparities in respiratory medicine and take steps to improve the differences among groups.

Dr. Gerald is the Canyon Ranch Endowed Chair, Professor in the Department of Health Promotion Sciences and Associate Dean of Research in College of Public Health, at the University of Arizona and a member of the Arizona Respiratory Center. She is a nationally known expert in the area of school based asthma including implementation of asthma management programs, school based asthma case detection, and internet based asthma monitoring. She also has extensive experience in the areas of clinical, behavioral and epidemiological research in asthma, COPD, and tuberculosis. Dr. Gerald is actively involved in professional and community education related to asthma and has served on many national and local boards including the American Thoracic Society Board of Directors and the American Lung Association of Southern Arizona Board of Directors. She currently serves as PI of the American Lung Association Asthma Clinical Research Center at the University of Arizona. Dr. Gerald has also served on many thesis and dissertation committees and mentored many graduate students, fellows, and junior faculty in the development of research programs.

Chapter 1Introduction to Health Disparities and Respiratory HealthAndrew Pleasant, Jennifer Cabe, Richard H. Carmona Chapter 2Health Disparities in Tobacco Smoking and Smoke ExposurePebbles Fagan Chapter 3Health Disparities Related to Environmental Air QualitySonali Bose, Gregory B. Diette  Chapter 4Health Disparities in Occupational ExposuresKen Rosenman Chapter 5Health Disparities And Pulmonary Function TestingJoseph H. Skalski, Rachele A. Gibson, Sarah A. Narotzky, Hemang Yadav, Paul D. Scanlon Chapter 6Health Disparities as They Relate to Medication AdherenceSandra R. Wilson, Meghan Halley, Sarah Knowles Chapter 7Health Care Disparities In ArdsNancy G. Casanova, Jorge Navarrete, Hector Quijada, Louise Hecker, Joe G. N. Garcia Chapter 8Social Disparities in Lung Growth and Respiratory HealthKelly J. Brunst, Rosalind J. Wright  Chapter 9Health Disparities in AsthmaChristian Bime Chapter 10Health Disparities in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Miriam Siegel, Jerry A. Krishnan, Jamie Lamson-Sullivan, Scott Cerreta, David M. Mannino Chapter 11Health Disparities and TuberculosisEyal Oren Chapter 12Disparities in Lung Cancer OutcomesChing-Fei Chang, Gary S. Feigenbaum, Michael K. Gould Chapter 13Health Disparities in Critical IllnessDaniel Monroy Chaves, John Daryl Thornton Chapter 14 Health Disparities in Sleep-Related Breathing DisordersJose S. Loredo Chapter 15Health Disparities in End-of-Life CareAnn C. Long, J. Randall Curtis Chapter 16Where Do We Go From Here? Improving Disparities in Respiratory Health Juan C. Celedón, Gary Ewart, Patricia W. Finn