Health Care in the Black Community

Empower patients with culture-specific strategies for promoting health, treating disease, and preventing violence!Current reports show that Black Americans have the highest death rate of all racial and ethnic groups. They suffer disproportionately from a number of fatal diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, and certain cancers. Moreover, violence takes far too high a toll, especially among young Black men. Clearly a different approach to health education and promotion is needed to end this tragic waste of valuable human lives. Health Care in the Black Community: Empowerment, Knowledge, Skills, and Collectivism proposes an innovative model for health professionals working in the Black community.Traditional Western medicine focuses on sickness, the isolated individual, and the material world. However, the Afrocentric values of many Black people emphasize wellness, the community, and the spiritual world. By basing health care approaches on the community's positive values of holistic healing and mutual assistance, Health Care in the Black Community suggests practical, effective strategies for promoting physical and emotional wellness. This comprehensive and informative book offers a solid intellectual framework as well as practical advice. Health Care in the Black Community: - identifies deeply held African-American cultural traditions and attitudes - offers specific suggestions for combining health care priorities with respect for cultural concerns - shows how to gain compliance by involving patients in their own care and drawing on community strengths - discusses the impact of specific problems such as low self-esteem, infertility, HIV/AIDS, and violence on Black families - develops strategies for preventing family violence by helping family members define and identify emotions - shares programs and ideas for enhancing the physical and mental health of elderly Black people - identifies ways to overcome the drawbacks of early parenthood Health Care in the Black Community offers health care professionals-- policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and educators in the fields of social work, health care, and cultural studies--successful methods, models, and suggestions to help improve health care in Black communities.

Sadye L. Logan, DSW, MSW, formerly of the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, where she chaired the foundation practice sequence and co-chaired the Institute for the Study of Black Families, currently holds the I. De Quincy Newman Endowed Professorship in Social Justice at the University of South Carolina College of Social Work. Edith M. Freeman, PhD, MSW, is a professor and director of the doctoral program at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, Lawrence, Kansas, where she teaches graduate practice courses in the doctoral and master's programs. She was a recipient of the first Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence in 1989.

Contents
* About the Editors* Contributors* Foreword* Acknowledgments* Introduction* Part I. Health Care, Knowledge Building, and Consciousness Raising from an Empowerment Perspective: Issues & Prospects* Chapter 1. An Empowerment and Health Prevention Framework for Understanding and Transforming the Health Care Outcomes of African Americans* Health Status of Blacks* The Proposed Framework* Community-Building Initiatives* Conclusion* Part II. Skill Development and Health Care Issues in the Black Community: Empowerment Opportunities* Chapter 2. Strengthening Black Families by Building Social Competence* Historical Influences* The Adequacy Model: One Approach to Competence Development* Summary and Conclusion* Chapter 3. Copology: A Contemporary Model Useful for Coping with Violence and the Related Stress in Black Families* Introduction* An Overview of Black Family Violence* Traditional Helping Approaches Available to Black Families* Copology: A Paradigm Shift in Addressing the Issue of Violence in Black Families* Summary* Conclusion* Chapter 4. Early Parenthood Among African Americans: Support and Personal Growth Strategies* Introduction: Current Status of Early Pregnancy and Parenthood* Consequences/Barriers of Early Parenthood* Summary and Conclusion* Chapter 5. Promoting Health Prevention Programs and Medical Compliance: An Expanded Conceptual Model* Overview of the Compliance Problem* Are We Missing the Mark?* A Conceptual Model to Increase Medical Compliance and promote Health Prevention Programs* Summary and Conclusion* Chapter 6. The Impact of Infertility in the Black Community* Introduction* Epidemiology* Etiology* Evaluation* Female Factors* Male Factors* Other Factors* Conclusion* Chapter 7. The Health Care Needs of the Black Elderly: From Well to Frail* Introduction* Chronic Health Profile of Black American Elders* Collectivism and Black Health Care Practices* Overview of Interventions with the Elderly* Gerontological Social Work Interventive Roles* Barriers* Conclusion* Part III. Self-Healing, Collectivism, and Social Action in the Black Community: Formal and Informal Helping* Chapter 8. African-Centered Reality Therapy: Intervention and Prevention* Introduction* Purpose* Choice Theory and African-Centered Reality Therapy* Conclusion* Chapter 9. Reclaiming the Inner Strength: An Expanded Perspective for Working with Inner City Families* Philosophical and Practice Experiences* Holistic Healing As a Theoretical Construct* Conclusion* Chapter 10. Black Women and HIV/AIDS: Culturally Sensitive Family Health Care* Health Care Needs of African-American Women with HIV/AIDS* Family and Gender Stressors and Supports* ACTP: A Culturally Sensitive Approach to Working with HIV-Positive African-American Women* Conclusion* Chapter 11. The Black Church Response to the Mental Health Needs of the Elderly* History of the African-American Church* The Role of the Church in African-American Culture* Conclusion* Chapter 12. Augmenting Traditional Health Care Through Mutual Assistance Groups for Families* Introduction* What Is a Mutual Assistance Group?* Methods* Results* Summary* Conclusion* Chapter 13. African-Centered Community Building: Implications for Political Action and System Change* Community Practice Approaches and Health Promotion* An African-Centered Community-Building Framework* An Afrocentric Community-Building Health Promotion Example* Implications for Future Practice with This Framework* Conclusion* Part IV. Epilogue* Chapter 14. A View Toward the Future: Implications for Empowerment Practice, Research, and Policy Development in the Black Community* Potential Opportunities and Ris