Book Description

Do places make a difference to people's health and well-being? The authors of this groundbreaking textbook demonstrate convincingly how the physical and social characteristics of a neighborhood can shape the health of its residents. Drawing on the expertise of a renowned cast of researchers, this book presents a state-of-the art account of the theories, methods, and empirical evidence linking neighborhood conditions to population health. Represented in the volume are contributions from the world's leading investigators in the field, including social epidemiologists, demographers, medical geographers, sociologists, and medical practitioners. This comprehensive textbook lays out for the first time the methodological approaches to conducting neighborhood research, including multi-level and contextual analysis, geocoding and the use of small area-based measures of deprivation, as well as the evolving science of "ecometrics." Substantive chapters present the case for the relevance of neighborhood effects on health outcomes throughout the life cycle, from infant mortality and low birthweight, to childhood asthma, adult infectious diseases, and disability in old age. The approaches covered in the book range from testing the linkages between community-level variables, such as social capital and residential segregation, and population health to designing and implementing community interventions and policies to improve the health of the public. The book is a timely companion volume to Social Epidemiology (Oxford University Press, 2000), edited by the same authors, and an indispensable manual on neighborhood research for students, researchers, and practitioners.