This book shows how practitioners in the emerging field of “cultural
epidemiology” describe human health, communicate with diverse audiences,
and intervene to improve health and prevent disease. It uses
textual and statistical portraits of disease to describe past and present
collaborations between anthropology and epidemiology. Interpreting
epidemiology as a cultural practice helps to reveal the ways in which
measurement, causal thinking, and intervention design are all influenced
by belief, habit, and theories of power. By “unpacking” many
common disease risks and epidemiologic categories, this book reveals
unexamined assumptions and shows how sociocultural context influences
measurement of disease. Examples include studies of epilepsy,
cholera, mortality on the Titanic, breastfeeding, and adolescent smoking.
The book describes methods as varied as observing individuals,
measuring social networks, and compiling data from death certificates.
It argues that effective public health interventions must work more often
and better at the level of entire communities.