Cancer Health Equity Research

Cancer Health Equity Research, Volume 146 in the Advances in Cancer Research series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on a variety of timely topics, including Pubertal Mammary Development as a 'Susceptibility Window' for Breast Cancer Disparity, Review of Patient Navigation Interventions to Address Barriers to Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials, Racial Disparities in Ovarian Cancer Research, Mighty Men: A Faith-Based Weight Loss Intervention to Reduce Cancer Risk in African American Men, Design of a Patient Navigation Intervention to Increase Rates of Surgery among African Americans with Early-Stage Lung Cancer, and much. Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors Presents the latest release in the Advances in Cancer Research series Updated release includes the latest information on the Cancer Health Equity Research

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Despite improvements in strategies for early detection and cancer treatment, racial and ethnic groups and individuals from other medically underserved populations continue to experience disparities in cancer morbidity and mortality. Research in cancer health disparities has evolved from first generation studies that described racial differences in morbidity and mortality to research that examines the efforts of interventions that focus on increasing access to early detection and treatment. As a result of these efforts, racial background, socioeconomic characteristics, access to high quality cancer care, and psychological and social factors have been documented as important determinants of cancer health disparities; these factors provide the context within which cancer is detected, treated, and prevented. The field of cancer health disparities is now at a critical juncture where it is essential to move beyond descriptive information on determinants of disparities in cancer morbidity and mortality to translational studies that examine basic biological processes and how these processes interact with social, psychological, and behavioral factors to contribute to disparities in cancer risk and outcomes. Empirical evidence about the influence of multilevel determinants has grown, and now, more than ever, efforts are being made to understand the independent and interactive effects of biological, psychological, behavioral, and social determinants of cancer health disparities and to translate this information into sustainable interventions for cancer prevention, control, and treatment. Provides an in-depth examination of emerging evidence about multilevel determinants of cancer health disparities Describes novel frameworks and approaches that are being used to understand and address cancer health disparities Presents evidence-based interventions that have potential to achieve equity in cancer outcomes Reviews the effects of previous and ongoing approaches to address disparities

This is an overview of the issues involved in prevention and early detection of colorectal cancer providing up-to-date, practical advice for clinicians. Possible management strategies for those at risk are provided, taking into account the biological principles of colorectal cancer development, epidemiological data and emerging genetic information, as well as social and environmental factors.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held the workshop Applying Big Data to Address the Social Determinants of Health in Oncology on October 28â€"29, 2019, in Washington, DC. This workshop examined social determinants of health (SDOH) in the context of cancer, and considered opportunities to effectively leverage big data to improve health equity and reduce disparities. The workshop featured presentations and discussion by experts in technology, oncology, and SDOH, as well as representatives from government, industry, academia, and health care systems. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S TOP TEN NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR A LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK SELECTION • A BOOKLIST EDITORS' CHOICE BOOK SELECTION One doctor's passionate and profound memoir of his experience grappling with race, bias, and the unique health problems of black Americans When Damon Tweedy begins medical school,he envisions a bright future where his segregated, working-class background will become largely irrelevant. Instead, he finds that he has joined a new world where race is front and center. The recipient of a scholarship designed to increase black student enrollment, Tweedy soon meets a professor who bluntly questions whether he belongs in medical school, a moment that crystallizes the challenges he will face throughout his career. Making matters worse, in lecture after lecture the common refrain for numerous diseases resounds, "More common in blacks than in whites." Black Man in a White Coat examines the complex ways in which both black doctors and patients must navigate the difficult and often contradictory terrain of race and medicine. As Tweedy transforms from student to practicing physician, he discovers how often race influences his encounters with patients. Through their stories, he illustrates the complex social, cultural, and economic factors at the root of many health problems in the black community. These issues take on greater meaning when Tweedy is himself diagnosed with a chronic disease far more common among black people. In this powerful, moving, and deeply empathic book, Tweedy explores the challenges confronting black doctors, and the disproportionate health burdens faced by black patients, ultimately seeking a way forward to better treatment and more compassionate care.

Have gaps in health outcomes between the poor and better off grown? Are they larger in one country than another? Are health sector subsidies more equally distributed in some countries than others? Are health care payments more progressive in one health care financing system than another? What are catastrophic payments and how can they be measured? How far do health care payments impoverish households? Answering questions such as these requires quantitative analysis. This in turn depends on a clear understanding of how to measure key variables in the analysis, such as health outcomes, health expenditures, need, and living standards. It also requires set quantitative methods for measuring inequality and inequity, progressivity, catastrophic expenditures, poverty impact, and so on. This book provides an overview of the key issues that arise in the measurement of health variables and living standards, outlines and explains essential tools and methods for distributional analysis, and, using worked examples, shows how these tools and methods can be applied in the health sector. The book seeks to provide the reader with both a solid grasp of the principles underpinning distributional analysis, while at the same time offering hands-on guidance on how to move from principles to practice.

There has been remarkable progress in understanding, preventing, detecting, diagnosing, and treating cancer, resulting in a reduction of cancer incidence and mortality in the United States. Despite this, the cancer burden varies considerably by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Cancer incidence rates vary markedly between racial/ethnic groups, but even more startling are the differences in outcome across groups. Cancer Disparities: Causes and Evidence-Based Solutions helps readers understand the scope and causes of this inequity by providing a detailed analysis of the many factors that result in cancer disparities across the cancer continuum, including the role of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, access to and use of services, insurance status, geographic variables, and differences in treatment provided to patients. Further, it is the first book to describe evidence-based, concrete solutions that can be used to reduce or even eliminate cancer health disparities. Fifteen previously unpublished studies of interventions designed specifically to achieve health equality are described. These studies focus on contextually and culturally appropriate strategies to enhance cancer prevention, screening and early detection, treatment, symptom management, and quality of life in underserved populations.