"Low-income African Americans in the United States face a fundamental tension when it comes to health care. Members of this group have higher rates of illness and disease compared to other groups and, at the same time, are more likely to face obstacles to accessing health care. Health Care Off the Books examines this tension, asking what people belonging to this group do when they have health problems but are unable to obtain health services. Drawing on a qualitative case study of an urban African American public housing ...
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"Low-income African Americans in the United States face a fundamental tension when it comes to health care. Members of this group have higher rates of illness and disease compared to other groups and, at the same time, are more likely to face obstacles to accessing health care. Health Care Off the Books examines this tension, asking what people belonging to this group do when they have health problems but are unable to obtain health services. Drawing on a qualitative case study of an urban African American public housing development, Danielle T. Raudenbush reveals that health care for some low-income people is different from common scholarly and public conceptions. It is not simply that members of this group forgo health care or rely on safety-net facilities like community clinics and public hospitals, as is often assumed. Instead, some low-income people and some of the doctors that work with them transform the nature of health care delivery and co-construct an informal-formal hybrid health care system. In this system, health-related resources that originate in places like hospitals and clinics are distributed informally through people's social ties, including resources like pharmaceutical drugs, medical equipment, and insurance cards. This hybrid system is shaped by important neighborhood and interpersonal processes and becomes integral to how some people manage their health problems. While the health care strategies described in the book may at times be beneficial, they also have the potential to negatively affect people's health"--
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