Researching Cultural Differences in Health

There are concerns about the poor health and prevalence of chronic illness among a number of ethnic minority populations. There are also debates about how best to improve the situation. For some, the answer is to see their experiences as part of the general social class inequality in health. However recent evidence questions the extent to which social class can explain the variations in health which ethnic minorities experience.
"Researching Cultural Differences in Health" offers a range of accounts of how people in ethnic minority groups perceive and manage their illness. Some of the chapters focus on Bangladeshi, and other South Asian groups, as well as Afro-Caribbeans and Irish people. The illnesses discusses include diabetes, hypertension, sickle-cell disorder, mental illness and coronary heart disease.

Significant concerns about the poor health and prevalence of chronic illness amongst a number of ethnic minority populations have led to heightened debates about how best to improve the situation. For some the answer is to see their experiences as part of the general social class inequality in health, but recent evidence questions the extent to which social class can explain the variations in health which ethnic minorities experience. Researching the Cultural Differences in Health offers a range of accounts of how people in ethnic minority groups perceive and manage their illness. Some of the chapters focus on Bangladeshi, and other South Asian groups, as well as Afro-Caribbeans and Irish people. The illness conditions discussed include diabetes, hypertension, sickle-cell disorder, mental illness and coronary heart disease. This book will provide invaluable reading for those involved in providing health services for ethnic minorities, and all lecturers and students in medical and nursing education as well as those studying sociology and social administration.

1 Considering culture, ethnicity and the politics of health 2 The meanings of high blood pressure among Afro-Caribbean and white patients 3 Childhood development and behavioural and emotional problems as perceived by Bangladeshi parents in East London 4 A defence of the use of the terms ‘ethnicity’ and ‘culture’ 5 Afro-Caribbean lay beliefs about diabetes: an exploratory study 6 The health of the Irish in England 7 Is ‘cultural difference’ a useful concept?: perceptions of health and the sources of ill health among Londoners of South Asian origin 8 Ethnic origin of sickle and thalassaemia counsellors: does it matter? 9 The trouble with culture 10 ‘How should I live?’ Bangladeshi people and non-insulin-dependent diabetes

David Kelleher is Reader in Sociology, London Guildhall University. Sheila Hillier is Professor of Medical Sociology at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry.