Appalachian Health: Culture, Challenges, and Capacity (Understanding and Improving Health for Minority and Disadvantaged Populations)

Appalachian Health explores major challenges and opportunities for promoting the health and well-being of the people of Appalachia, a historically underserved population. It considers health's intersection with social, political, and economic factors to shed light on the trends affecting mortality and morbidity among the region's residents.

Editors F. Douglas Scutchfield and Randy Wykoff have assembled high-profile experts working in academia, public health, and government to offer perspectives on a wide range of topics including health behaviors, environmental justice, and pandemic preparedness. This volume also provides updated data on issues such as opioid abuse, "deaths of despair," and the social determinants of health. Together, the contributors illuminate the complex health status of the region and offer evidence-based programs for addressing the health problems that have been identified.

"Appalachian Health makes a significant impact on the ways that we think about health in the region and the need for upstream approaches. The framework and information provided in this text can help leaders, policymakers, and researchers in incrementally implementing needed policy, environmental, and systems changes. My hope is that all public health and social science scholars across Appalachia make use of this book and share it with their students along the way."―Adam Hege, associate professor and program director of public health at Appalachian State University

F. Douglas Scutchfield, MD, FACPM is the emeritus Peter P. Bosomworth Professor of Health Services Research and Policy at the University of Kentucky. He was responsible for establishing two new schools of public health, at San Diego State University and the University of Kentucky. Previously the editor of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Scutchfield is coeditor of Scutchfield and Keck'sPrinciples of Public Health Practice and Contemporary Public Health: Principles, Practice, and Policy (fourth edition). Randy Wykoff, MD, MPH & TM, is founding dean of the College of Public Health and professor in the Department of Health Services Management and Policy at East Tennessee State University. From 1999–2002, he served as deputy assistant secretary for health in the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, United States Department of Health and Human Services. His work has appeared in publications such as the American Journal of Public Health and Frontiers in Public Health.