Health & Human Sciences

The problem of hunger is increasing. in general, we agree on that -- but our agreement ceases when we consider appropriate definitions, approaches, and solutions to global scarcity of food. This book emphasizes that the world's food problems are technically, biologically, socially, politically, economically, and morally complex. Early chapters set out alternative conceptions of the world food problem and explore the major variables and assumptions of each. Subsequent chapters compare and contrast modern agriculture with traditional and subsistence forms of agriculture as biological systems. A fourfold classification of nations into food-sufficient and food-deficient and rich and poor precedes a discussion of political, economic, and cultural aspects of food policies in the United States, Europe, and selected less-developed nations. The book also considers the prospects for scientific and technological developments as partial solutions to global scarcity of food and makes guarded recommendations, reaffirming the complexity of the issues involved in world hunger.

When we are patients, few of us understand the implications and risks of the complex procedures modern medicine has developed for curing diseases and altering consciousness and human biology. Here is a book that attempts to clarify the issues raised by such complexities. The work is a primer in the language of medical ethics - a language we must understand if we are to make sense out of the private and public dilemmas modern medical progress is bringing our way. At the beginning of each chapter, three fictional cases illustrate dilemmas that can arise in one of seven areas of modern medicine: experimentation with human subjects; genetic counseling and screening-, abortion; behavior modification with drugs, surgery, and psychology; treatment of the dying and dead; allocation of scarce medical resources; and genetic engineering. These fictional cases lead into a review of a broad range of thinking about the ethics involved. From the facts given, the reader is equipped to form an opinion in each case. The book draws no conclusions

The storyteller has a fascinating place in our world. Storyteller Sidney Homan tells tales of growing up in Philadelphia in the 1940s and 50s accounts of Bruzzy the Bully; of John Crapp, the television salesman; of Leslie Doober and his rotten banana; of drunken Uncle Eddie, and of the Queen of the mushrooms. Sometimes comic, sometimes bittersweet, A Fish in the Moonlight illuminates the growth of both storyteller and listener.

Afternoons with Puppy is a heartwarming account of dynamic relationships and outcomes involving a therapist, his therapy animals, and his patients over the course of almost two decades. It is a narrative of Dr. Fine's experiences and the growing respect for the power of the animals effect on his patients and himself.

This book is the first of its kind to discuss in detail the actual management of local animal control programs as opposed to the care of the animals. The book covers those financial, personnel, legal, health, and safety issues that animal control directors and management staff need to know in providing direction and oversight of animal control programs.   Chapters examine selected topics in which the author assesses the strengths and weaknesses, offers new insights and strategies for managing more effectively. For example, the two chapters on contracting discuss the steps in the process, strategies, and suggested provisions in the written agreement to make the program more effective. The animal law chapters explain the basis for the laws, but also highlight those provisions that if enacted into law, can strengthen enforcement options. The chapter on budget and revenues explains funding variations among programs and how local officials have been creative in financing these programs.   Subjects addressed in this book include many recently recognized as vital to the management of animal control programs. They include: need for Web sites, use of program evaluations, and the value of forms, records and reports. In addition, the author discusses and assesses from a new perspective: interacting with the public and the media, liability issues, wildlife problems, and the politics of animal control.  

Holding a dead baby. Standing up to a supervisor. Washing a bedridden patient's hair. Talking past and through one another in a case conference. Smoothing a sheet over a patient's disintegrating body. Firing a longtime friend and co-worker. Literature can be a rich source of guidance to help with contemporary ethical dilemmas facing health care professionals and patients. Poems and stories can help to identify moral problems, promote empathy, and tolerate ambiguity in health and illness. The depth and detail within stories and poems allow readers to experience the contradictory feelings, complex relationships, and situational messiness that characterize ethical quandaries in actual practice. These works by women in health care contribute to our understanding by introducing characters who struggle with illness and aging or who try to make sense of their own feelings in the face of pain and mortality. Who better to capture the essence of this complexity than people working directly within it?

At Wit's End is a simple, straightforward, and easy-to-read summary about Alzheimer's as a disease and condition, written without technical jargon and impractical detail. About 33% of the population will eventually provide care for someone with Alzheimer's. The strain to maintain the medical well-being and mental health stability of a loved one with Alzheimer's can be enormous. Still, providing care, enhancing the value of living, can be amply rewarding. Many books delve into other areas of Alzheimer's emphasizing the financial, legal, and treatment needs of the afflicted. At Wit's End is unique since it not only explains the psychiatric and psychological aspects of Alzheimer's but helps family members or caregivers discover a wealth of effective interventions. Kraus focuses on the whole person and his/her social, psychological, physical, and spiritual life.Find out"How Alzheimer's can be distinguished from normal aging and other diseases that mimic its symptoms;"How the disorder affects changes in functional abilities how an Alzheimer's daily competence is viewed by psychiatric and legal communities;"How rational think is distorted leading to a wide array of behaviors like agitation, impatience, wandering, and inappropriate expressions of sexuality;"What medical treatments are available, both traditional and alternative. At Wit's End gives families and caregivers a new outlook on Alzheimer's.

Pets play a greater role in our emotional and physical health than ever before, says the Purdue University professor who is co-author of his revised edition of Between Pets and People: The Importance of Animal Companionship. The book by Alan M. Beck of Purdue's School of Veterinary Medicine and Aaron H. Katcher, psychiatrist and professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, explores the emotional and physical benefits of owning a pet and analyzes the complex relationship between people and pets. "The study of the importance of the relationship between people and animals is a growing field and has the potential to be part of the whole human-health field," says Beck, director of Purdue's Center for Applied Ethology and Human-Animal Interaction. "The social milieu on where animals fit into society has really changed in the last 13 years. We've gone from recognizing the potential of animals being a significant positive contribution to certain populations, such as the elderly, to actual documentation." Beck and Katcher note a 1992 study by an Australian cardiologist of 5,000 people who visited a clinic to find ways to reduce heart disease. The study found that people with pets had lower blood pressure and lower blood fat levels than those without pets, even though the two groups were alike in diet and exercise. The authors also point to the trend by nursing homes to incorporate animals into the routine and environment for patients. For example, in the early 1980s nursing homes typically did not allow pets to visit patients, while today nearly half of the homes have an organized program for animal therapy, Beck says. In addition to exploring physical benefits, the book covers such topics as pets as family members, pets as therapists, talking to pets, and how pets can teach us to become better companions to friends and family. The book also has a list of Web sites by such organizations as Canine Companions for Independence and the American Kennel Club. While pets provide health benefits, they can create problems, Beck and Katcher say. "There is no medicine that doesn't have some side effects," Beck says. For example, more pet ownership has public-health implications such as more dog bites, he notes. And some people whose pets die grieve to the point of illness, he says. But grief over the loss of an animal is not new, Beck says. Ancient Egyptians shaved their eyebrows after their cats died, and the Roman emperor Caligula had his horse entombed.

The traditional equation of the death of a person with irreversible cessation of cardiorespiratory function-the absence of heartbeat, pulse, or respiration-is being replaced by modern medicine with a definition of death in terms of irreversible destruction of function-brain death. In this book, the author thoughtfully and analytically surveys and evaluates the arguments for and against equating the death of a person with brain death. The ethical issues-both theoretical and practical-are explored against a rich and comprehensive background of current medical thought and practice and the most recent legal reasoning and opinion.

This inquiry into matters of heart, conducted under the shadows of pending surgery, awakens themes of boyhood, education, and marriage and prompt questions about loyalty to a deceased father, connections with immigrant grandparents, loss and rediscovery of faith, and solitude versus community. A medical narrative, the book also chronicles a span of contemporary American life. Throughout Amato's account, the consistent reminder of his upcoming bypass invites readers to reflect on their own lives and selves. This is an intelligent and witty guide to an immensely common operation that nevertheless for each patient constitutes a unique experience-a veritable rite of passage.

Articles by an array of international experts provide as an excellent resource for professionals and students involved in the area of disability studies. The book is divided into three parts - (1) disability and modern society; (2) working with people who are challenged; and (3) working within a disability-services environment. This approach mirrors the contemporary debate within a practice framework reflecting how individuals, organizations, and communities deal with the problem and solutions.At the beginning of each chapter, learning objectives are set out to aid the reader in dealing with the text and activities contained inside the chapter. The materials across the chapters are developed so that when finished, the reader will become more skilled in the area of modern community disability services. This integrated approach provides the key elements needed for both training and advancing knowledge in this fast growing area.

Both accessible and insightful, this collection of personal critical essays employs a formal study of literature as framework for the consideration of universal issues, including grief management, death, and acceptance of, and benefit from, traumatic change. These topics offer Brackett the opportunity to reflect upon the joys and rigors of scholarship as she considers professional issues, such as academic advancement through publication. They stand as testimony to one professional's belief that academia should not only embrace but encourage a number of approaches to self-expression on the part of its scholars. Her personal commentary draws from the work and life stories of many writers, including Elizabeth Cary, Anne Bradstreet, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Rabindranath Tagore, Leo Tolstoy, Katherine Anne Porter, and V.S. Naipaul. Critical and philosophical commentary by notables such as Richard Rorty, Michel Foucault, Jane Tompkins, Lois McNay, Diane P. Freeman, Olvia Frey, Frances Murphy Zauhar, Janice Radway and Patricia Waugh interlace and advance Brackett's own speculations. The book makes clear Brackett's belief that no reasonable explanation exists for the necessity some scholars see in withholding results of literary study from a broader audience, unless it be a reluctance to write with the clarity necessary to make digestible and enjoyable the fruits of their profession.