Medical Geography

The leading text in the field, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to geographic approaches to studying disease and promoting health. It presents cutting-edge techniques of spatial and social analysis and explores their relevance for understanding cultural and political ecology, disease systems, and public health issues across the globe. Essential topics include how new diseases emerge and epidemics develop in particular places; the intersecting influences on health of biological processes, culture, environment, and behavior; and the changing landscape of health care planning and service delivery. The text is richly illustrated with tables, figures, and maps, including 16 color plates. New to This Edition: thoroughly updated in response to the challenges of globalization, development, and demographic changes incorporates the latest data and conceptual frameworks chapters on neighborhood analysis and the use of GIS in modeling health and disease GIS applications and examples are integrated throughout. This book will be important reading for students and instructors in geography, public health, epidemiology, international health policy and planning, medical sociology, and related fields. It will also serve as a primary text in advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level courses such as Medical Geography and Health Geography.