Black Men's Health

Now more than ever there is a need to focus on Black men's health in higher education and ensure that future practitioners are trained to ethically and culturally serve this historically oppressed community. This textbook provides practical insight and knowledge that prepare students to work with Black men and their families from a strengths-based and social justice lens. There is a dearth in the literature that discusses the prioritization of Black men's health within the context of how they are viewed by societal approaches to engage them in research, and health programming aimed at increasing their participation in health services to decrease their morbidity and mortality rates. Much of the extant literature is over 10 years old and doesn't account for social determinants of health, perceptions of health status, as well as social justice implications that can affect the health outcomes of this historically oppressed population including structuraland systemic racism as well as police brutality and gun violence. The book's 13 chapters represent a diversity of thought and perspectives of experts reflective of various disciplines and are organized in four sections:

• Part I - Racial Disparities and Black Men
• Part II - Black Masculinity
• Part III - Black Men in Research
• Part IV - Social Justice Implications for Black Men's Health Black Men's Health serves as a core text across multiple disciplines and can be utilized in undergraduate- and graduate-level curriculums. It equips students and educators in social work, nursing, public health, and other helping professions with the knowledge and insight that can be helpful in their future experiences of working with Black men or men from other marginalized racial/ethnic groups and their families/social support systems. Scholars, practitioners, and academics in these disciplines, as well as community-based organizations who provide services to Black men and their families, state agencies, and evaluation firms with shared interests also would find this a useful resource.

Auteur

Yarneccia D. Dyson, PhD, MSW is an award-winning thought leader and higher education strategist with over 18 years' experience in supervisory and leadership roles. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor and Department Chair for the University of North Carolina Greensboro Department of Social Work and Gerontology Program. She has over 18 years' experience in HIV and STI research, prevention programming, and advocacy efforts. Further, she is passionate about inclusive and equity-centered practices in higher education administration and her research interests focus on improving the health, access, and well-being of historically oppressed communities, mentoring experiences for Black women and Women of Color, as well as improving the sexual and reproductive outcomes among women and girls. Presently, she is the Director of the Well-Being, Intersectionality & Sustainability Engagement-Empowerment-Equity Research Lab (The WIS3 Lab) and creator of the Engag3 Biomedical-Behavioral HIV Prevention Intervention that focuses on decreasing binge drinking while increasing protective sexual health behaviors. In addition, this project also explores the sexual decision-making, perception of risk, well-being and physical health tenets related to Black College students. Furthermore, she is also the Director and Principal Investigator for the HRSA BHWET-funded Integrated Behavioral Health & Racial Equity Scholars (IBHRES) Project, a training program that focuses on increasing the knowledge and skills of graduate-level students who are interested in joining the behavioral health workforce and serve communities in high need and high demand areas. Finally, Dr. Dyson obtained a PhD in Social Work Policy, Planning, and Administration & Social Science from the Whitney M. Young, Jr., School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University, a Master of Social Work degree (Clinical Concentration) from The Florida State University, and a Bachelor of Social Work (Community Organizing Concentration) from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University.

Vanessa Robinson-Dooley, LCSW, CNP received her BA in Political Science from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She also holds a Master's degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Drake University, and Masters (MSW) and PhD in Social Work from The University of Georgia. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Georgia. Her direct practice (therapist) experience includes individual and family therapy, group work, and assessments. She has also worked in the area of domestic violence, program development, and community organizing. Dr. Robinson-Dooley's research focus includes factors surrounding chronic diseases and behavioral health in African American men, and promoting cultural competency in education and practice. She is Co-PI on a $700,000 NIH grant with two colleagues from Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, studying self-management of chronic disease and behavioral health for Black men and developing a peer-led curriculum. Dr. Robinson-Dooley is teaching courses on "teaching" and is an advocate of UDL (Universal Design for Learning) principles and technology use in the classroom. She has published in multiple journals and presented nationally on various topics related to her teaching and research.

Jerry Watson, PhD, LCSW, MBA is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Bachelor of Social Work program at the University of Memphis in Tennessee. Jerry taught sociology and psychology at DePaul University, group work at Aurora University in Chicago, and a variety of social work courses at the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels at Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, University of Mississippi, and Rust College. Jerry currently teaches and is the faculty lead at the University of Memphis for Social Work Practice in Community and Organizations. Dr. Watson is a scholar-activist and generalist practitioner. Jerry has over fifty years of combined experience in teaching, working in a variety of community clinical positions, and leading health and wellness programs and initiatives targeting African American men and boys. Dr. Watson's community experience and scholarship spans broadly across community topics including the following domains with a social justice lens: offender re-entry support, affordable housing, community organizing, business development, asset-based community development, cultural activism, youth and family wellness, crime and safety, community violence intervention and prevention, trauma-informed care, the "digital divide", race, culture, and poverty.

Contenu

Preface and Overview of the Textbook

Part I: Racial Disparities and Black Men

Chapter 1: Introduction

Proposed Author: Yarneccia D. Dyson

This chapter introduces the textbook and provides an overview to each Part that also refers to the inclusion of Chapter Exercises as well as embedded Case Studies/Case Examples within each Chapter to help support Instructors that use it for their courses.

-Overview

Chapter 2: Social Determinants of Health, Chronic Disease, and Black Men

Proposed Author: Yarneccia D. Dyson, Vanessa Robinson-Dooley, Jerry Watson

Although great strides in health care have been attempted, Black Men in the United States continue to experience the highest rates of health disparities and have lower life expectancy across all racial and ethnic groups. Factors such as poverty, low or no healthcare access, unemployment, and homelessness, are social determinants of health that contribute to increased health disparities among this population. Beyond race, there are also important implications related to gender and masculinity that exists among Black men that contribute to these disparities. As a result, there is a need for the use of culturally centered, empowerment-based health interventions and t…