Aboriginal Health in Canada: Historical, Cultural, and Epidemiological Perspectives - Hardcover

Waldram, James B.; Herring, D. Ann; Young, T. Kue

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802087922 ISBN 13: 9780802087928

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2006

Synopsis

Numerous studies, inquiries, and statistics accumulated over the years have demonstrated the poor health status of Aboriginal peoples relative to the Canadian population in general. Aboriginal Health in Canada is about the complex web of physiological, psychological, spiritual, historical, sociological, cultural, economic, and environmental factors that contribute to health and disease patterns among the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. The authors explore the evidence for changes in patterns of health and disease prior to and since European contact, up to the present. They discuss medical systems and the place of medicine within various Aboriginal cultures and trace the relationship between politics and the organization of health services for Aboriginal people. They also examine popular explanations for Aboriginal health patterns today, and emphasize the need to understand both the historical-cultural context of health issues, as well as the circumstances that give rise to variation in health problems and healing strategies in Aboriginal communities across the country. An overview of Aboriginal peoples in Canada provides a very general background for the non-specialist. Finally, contemporary Aboriginal healing traditions, the issue of self-determination and health care, and current trends in Aboriginal health issues are examined.

About this title

Synopsis:

Numerous studies, inquires, and statistics accumulated over the years have demonstrated the poor health status of Aboriginal peoples relative to the Canadian population in general. While several books have addressed specific aspects of this issue, "Aboriginal Health in Canada", originally published in 1995, set the standard for studies in Aboriginal health services. Now available in a fully up to date second edition, this book is unique in the comprehensive historical review, national scope, and combination of methodologies that it provides. "Aboriginal Health in Canada" is about the complex web of factors that contribute to health and disease patterns among the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. The authors explore the evidence for changes in patterns of health and disease prior to and since European contact up to the present. They discuss medical systems and the place of medicine within various Aboriginal cultures and trace the relationship between politics and the organization of health services for Aboriginal people.

They also examine popular explanations for Aboriginal health patterns today, and emphasize the need to understand both the historical-cultural context of health issues and the diversity of circumstances that give rise to variations in health problems and healing of Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

About the Author:

James B. Waldram is a medical anthropologist at the University of Saskatchewan. He is the author of many articles and books, including Aboriginal Health in Canada: Historical, Cultural and Epidemiological Perspectives, with D. Ann Herring and T. Kue Young, 1995. D. Ann Herring is an associate professor, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University. T. Kue Young is the TransCanada Chair in Aboriginal Health in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0802087922
• ISBN 13: 9780802087928
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 352